Room At The Inn
by McWhoPuff
Summary: Calzona AU: Callie Torres owns the loneliest inn in Seattle, having just broken up with her girlfriend and employee, she meets small time travelling actress Arizona Robbins. Both of these women have had crap handed to them in their lives and have all but closed themselves off to others, will they be able to let each other in?
1. Chapter 1

OK! So this is it I guess!

I've been writing this for a long time and when I got to like, 30,000 words I knew I had to upload it.

I wanna say a massive thanks to my friends for helping out and I look forward to your reviews

An I won nothing, enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 1

Arizona woke up screaming for the fourth night in a row. She desperately clutched at her covers as she forced herself to calm down. She tried to remember her breathing exercises.

'In...out...in...out' she thought to herself. When she felt the tight sensation in her chest loosen and the twisted feeling of her stomach ease, she rolled on her side and looked for the clock.

She had four hours before she needed to be on stage, but first she had to deal with the tears.

* * *

Callie could feel herself crying but the Seattle rain on her face masked the tears.

"So, this is it? We're done? Just like that?" She stammered to the blonde in front of her.

"Callie, this never started." Erica bluntly replied, as she spun around and stormed out of the parking lot - and out of Callie Torres's life forever. The Latina was numb. As she staggered back into the bar, she tried to replay the argument in her mind. None of this made sense.

Despite the warm air inside, she was still shivering. Deciding that she couldn't see guests like this, she wandered into the kitchen to find her head chef, (and best friend) Mark Sloan, chopping onions; he looked up at her with a sensitive smile. The entire inn had heard the argument before Callie had followed Erica out into the parking lot. Callie stood next to him and stared at the vegetables.

Callie's life might have been in shambles for the past few years, but she took pride in her little inn. She opened 'Calliope's' four years ago, and it was a simple place. There was a little hallway with a receptionists' desk, a kitchen that served the small dining room on one side and the bar on the other, and around nine rooms that could be accessed from the stairway and elevator in the hallway.

Callie's favourite place was the bar, not because she loved to drink, but because when she stood behind that bar, she was untouchable. She could serve drinks and talk to customers like it was nobody's business; the inn was her kingdom but the bar was her palace.

Mark was the first staff member she hired. They were close friends at the time anyway and he was just finishing cooking school when she bought the place. Over the years, their friendship had blossomed and, when the bar wasn't open or when it was a quiet day, Callie could often be found in the kitchen chatting to her best friend.

"You ok, boss?" Mark gently asked. Callie sighed, as she took an onion and began chopping aggressively.

"She...she just left. She said that we were never together. That this never started." Callie stopped and studied the lines on the onion; she heard Mark drop his knife and walk over to hug her.

"Ew no you smell like onions..." she protested in vain. She dropped her knife and rested her head on his shoulder and he rubbed her soaking wet back as she sobbed into his white chef's coat.

"You are going to be great Torres. You didn't need her. None of us even liked her." Mark said as he released his friend and went back to chopping.

"I sort of needed her Mark, she was our bartender."

"Bartender my ass! You were always the one serving people behind the bar whilst Erica just made googly eyes at you." He waved his knife around to emphasise his point.

Callie sighed again and also went back to chopping, "yeah...but she had pretty googly eyes."

Mark chuckled softly, "that's your problem Torres, you let your heart decide things over your head. Sure, you needed Erica when you hired her, but now we have Lexie, Meredith and Derek to run the place while you mix pretty drinks behind the counter. You just kept Erica around because you wanted to bang her."

Callie couldn't argue against that, he was completely right. Erica Hahn was the second member of staff to be hired as a waitress and bartender. She and Mark were to run the bar and kitchens so Callie could deal with the guests and rooms. Since then, business had steadily grown and she had gradually been able to hire more staff. She hired Marks long term best friend Derek Shepherd to run the bookings and manage guests and soon after, she hired Meredith Grey to help tidy rooms and assist guests if they needed stuff like pillows or wake up calls. Meredith and Derek would spend hours together behind the receptionists' desk, forming a pretty special relationship of their own. Callie and Mark attended their wedding eight months ago, where they met Meredith's younger sister Lexie, who'd needed a part time job to get through med school. Callie swiftly hired her as a waitress and Mark swiftly started dating her.

"Do you think I should've fired Erica when we hired Lexie?" Callie asked.

Mark thought about it for a moment before responding, "No, you should've fired her when she started treating you like crap. She knew that you liked her and she took advantage; turning up late to work, being rude to guests, being rude to you."

"She wasn't rude she was just-" Callie caught herself. Erica didn't deserve her defence. Erica had been playing with Callie's emotions for years; flirting with her to get around her own blatant violation of the rules. When Callie hired Lexie, Erica had obviously feared for her own job, because that was when the flirting intensified.

"She played you Torres. You should be happy to see her gone. Hey, I know! You should come out tonight with us! Remember Meredith's friend Cristina from the wedding? She is part of this travelling theatre company and its their opening night in Seattle; Meredith's got us some tickets to their play." Mark beamed like a little boy, "It was just gonna be Meredith, Derek, Lex and me, but Meredith and Derek had to drop out last minute. They'll be here tonight, so you could come too! You might even meet someone!"

"No offense Mark, but alone people don't like to be around the together people, especially when the alone people aren't alone by choice, and I don't think I can take another emotional disaster right now. I used to, like, walk tall around here but now I'm feeling like- like Erica's shaved off a few inches, you know?"

Mark put his hands on Callie's shoulders slightly shaking her. "Come on Torres! All you can do is be brave enough to get out there." He put his arms by his sides and looked directly into Callie's eyes. "You fought, you loved, you lost. You should walk tall Torres."

Callie looked at Mark for a moment and burst out laughing. "That was the cheesiest thing you've ever said to me Mark, I can't believe your lines actually work on all those women!"

Mark laughed with her as he scraped the chopped onions into a container. "You like Lexie, you hired her. You should come out with us, the bar isn't even open until the play is over. Do this and I won't bring up Horrible Hahn again."

"Alright then," Callie surrendered, rolling her eyes as she started to help him wash up, "let's get a move on."

* * *

"Robbins, get a move on! Where the hell have you been?" Arizona's friend and fellow actor, Alex Karev, greeted her as she snuck in through the back door.

"shh," she warned, "I don't want people to know that I'm late" she whispered as she hurriedly made her way to the dressing rooms.

"What, did you get lost or something?" Alex chuckled, following her, "unfortunately for you, everyone else was early, so yeah, we all know that you're late."

Arizona turned around and cringed, "are they mad?"

"Leah and Cristina don't mind, but Izzie is pretty pissed." Alex explained as the blonde turned around and went into her dressing room. She didn't expect any less.

"what about Owen?" Arizona asked as she took off her coat and scarf.

"He's too busy making sure the staging is alright. Robbins, he's been in rehearsals, he knows that you know this stuff. We all do, we were...we were just worried you wouldn't show."

The words stung. Arizona looked away from Alex, pretending to study her dressing table "I'm fine, Alex. I'm here, tell Izzie I'm here."

Alex nodded as he quickly left the dressing room. She took a moment to breathe before getting her costume out ready. She had twenty minutes before a dress rehearsal to make sure that the new set and lighting worked. She loved the play they were working on at the moment; it told the story of a wife suffering domestic abuse who fell in love with a woman. Most of the play was action and the only dialogue spoken was when the characters all saw the same shrink independently. Arizona had the relatively small part of the shrink.

She didn't mind travelling that much. The theatre company consisted of five actors, a director/writer and a couple of roadies. They went from city to city, staying a couple of months at a time, performing plays for the past three years. The current play had not been performed before but it was their most highly anticipated and, in Arizona's opinion, the best one yet.

"Get a move on Robbins!" Arizona heard the annoying yell of Isobel Stevens, star of the show and downright diva. She got on well with Alex and the other actresses, Cristina Yang and Leah Murphy, but Izzie made her blood boil. She often considered herself too good for the likes of their little company. Owen Hunt, the director and owner of the company, didn't seem to mind and always cast her as a leading role.

Arizona bolted to the stage to find some of the others waiting for her. Leah Murphy, the youngest and newest member of the group turned to Izzie, "you owe me ten bucks, I told you that she would show."

Arizona ignored this and turned to Alex, "Where's Owen?"

Alex shrugged, "Probably with Cristina in her dressing room rehearsing". Arizona let out a giggle. The love affair between their director and fellow actress was a well known but unspoken matter. The entire company would acknowledge it, but never talk about it. It was almost a running joke now. Once Arizona had forgotten to knock before entering Yang's dressing room and she got an eye load of them going at it. She couldn't really blame them; it got lonely on the road.

As if on cue, Owen and Cristina marched on to the stage, ready for a pep talk before their final rehearsal.

"Ok gang, listen up!" the director called for attention, "This is our opening night in Seattle, and the opening night of our new show, so this has to go perfectly. Got it?"

The congregation nodded in comprehension, they all respected Owen and he was fairly friendly as a person, but when it came to his shows, he was a perfectionist to the hundredth degree.

They warmed up and got into character, each of the actors performing their own little rituals. Cristina had a mantra she would repeat to herself and Alex usually did some stretches. Arizona practiced her breathing, "in...out...in...out..." she thought to herself as she got into position. despite her lateness and anxiety, Arizona was certain that this evening was going to be great.

* * *

"Come on you guys, this is gonna be great!" Lexie yelled as she bounded down the street towards the theatre.

"I forgot how young she is," Callie muttered to Mark as they followed her at a more leisurely pace. The rain had stopped and Callie appreciated the crisp, evening air.

"She's not that young," Mark responded, wrinkling his brow, "I mean, 23 isn't that young."

"no, well I suppose you act like a 12 year old most of the time Mark," Callie teased, "so she's perfect for you!"

They were approaching the entrance of the theatre, they joined the back of a small queue had assembled at the doors.

"So how's med school?" Callie asked Lexie, who was positively buzzing with excitement.

"Oh, it's amazing. We're applying for internships soon."

"Have you decided what area you are going to go into?"

"Er, maybe surgery or psychiatry. That sort of why I want to see this play tonight, it's supposed to have this large psychiatric element, like all the dialogue is told through meetings with a shrink. Oh look the door's opening!"

The small crowd shuffled into the theatre. Callie, Mark and Lexie were guided to their seats. It was a small production, but the turnout was fairly large nonetheless. The room could hold around 400 people and just about every seat was taken.

"This guy, Owen Hunt, he's supposed to be a genius," Lexie leaned over to explain, "he was this up and coming playwright in New York. Nobody really knows how he ended up doing small time shows but all of his work is pretty highly anticipated." Callie nodded as the lights went down and the curtain went up.

The stage had two levels, the top one wasn't lit but the bottom one looked like a small, modern kitchen. Callie mildly enjoyed the first couple of scenes. There wasn't any dialogue but it became clear that the main character was being abused by her husband. When the top half of the stage lit up, there was a hitch in Callie's breathing.

The set resembled a shrink's office with a stereotypical couch and armchair. Sat in the armchair, holding a purple clipboard, was the most gorgeous woman Callie had ever seen. She had luscious, straight blonde hair and intense blue eyes. The shrink smiled, revealing gleaming teeth and adorable dimples. Literally anything could've happened in that scene and Callie would not have been able to recall it because she was so absorbed by the beauty of this woman.

The next scene started in the other set and Callie went back to following the action. The woman was falling in love with her next door neighbour who was also a woman.

"Screw this chick," Callie thought, watching the main character lust after the young, dirty blonde, "why aren't you going after the shrink?"

Callie looked at her programme. The actress playing the shrink was called Arizona Robbins. "pretty name" she thought.

The play was shorter than most, so did not have an interval, Callie was ok with this at it would've meant 15 minutes of making more awkward conversation with Lexie. Instead, Callie intently followed the plot and tried not to get distracted during the dialogue scenes with the shrink. Overall, Callie was surprised at the quality of the play; the acting and storytelling was superb.

At the end of the play, the main character was killed by her best friend, who runs off with the abusive husband. The final scene was the young girl next door talking to the hot shrink about the uncertainty of life or whatever. When the lights went down, the entire audience burst into applause, everyone was on their feet.

* * *

"Everyone was on their feet!" Owen clapped after the actors had made their bows and were standing backstage. "Thank you so much everyone, now don't get caught up in the reviews and I'll see you tomorrow evening." The director said his goodbyes and left with Cristina on his arm.

"well that was a dud," Izzie proclaimed as soon as he had gone, "we'll be lucky to get anywhere with this one."

"what are you talking about? They loved it!" Arizona asked, she was determined to not let the likes of Isobel Stevens ruin the evening of her best performance yet.

"Oh, come on Robbins. A big star like you should know that the shows with a good audience reaction always gets the worst reviews." Izzie complained as she made her way to her dressing room.

"she doesn't know what she's on about." Alex huffed as he followed suit, patting Arizona on the back and going into his dressing room.

"I thought you were amazing tonight Arizona." Leah smiled.

"well, thanks I thought you were awesome too Leah" Arizona returned the smile and made her way to her dressing room too.

"Doyouwannagettadrink?" she heard the young girl call after her. Arizona spun around.

"Sorry?"

Leah was standing there, a little flustered, "I was just wondering if...maybe...you'd like to get a drink...with me?"

Arizona considered the offer, she could really use a drink after today's stress and dealing with Izzie, but she couldn't risk another late night. Especially if people were taking bets on whether she would show up to work at all.

"I don't think I will tonight, let's wait until the reviews are published and we can go out tomorrow and celebrate maybe?"

Leah nodded, a little disappointed, "yeah...sure...see ya tomorrow"

"See you tomorrow" Mark kissed Lexie on the forehead before the young girl got out of the car. Mark was dropping her home before dropping Callie off at the inn.

"Reckon McDreamy and Grey have burnt the place down to the ground yet?" Callie mused as Mark drove.

"Nah, I think they probably did it on the reception desk or something." He chuckled, "are you going to open up the bar tonight?"

Callie sighed, she had momentarily forgotten that the bar wouldn't be open when she got back, because her bartender had left. "Yeah, it's not that late and maybe I'll get some interesting people if I only open after midnight."

The bar had its own entrance onto the street, so it wasn't only guest that used it. Often, people would come into the bar, drink themselves blind, and stumble upstairs to get a room because Callie wouldn't let the drive. It was a pretty good system, despite its exploitative nature.

Callie thanked Mark for the ride and unlocked the entrance to the bar. Callie got behind the counter and, as she bent down to unlock the cash register, she heard somebody enter and sit on one of the stools.

"Are you open?"

Callie stood up to answer, but she couldn't. Sitting behind her bar was the incredibly hot shrink. All the words Callie knew had dissolved into the walls of her brain. Eventually, she nodded at the blonde.

"I'll have a scotch on the rocks please" she asked the dumbstruck bartender, "with a twist."

Callie simply nodded again before preparing the drink. She was amazed how suddenly this woman had gotten from the stage to the bar, why was she here? Why wasn't she at some after party or something? Why is she alone?

Callie slid the drink across the table and muttered, "on the house."

"and why is that?"

Callie was regaining her words now, "my favourite actors don't have to pay in my bar." She winked.

"have you've seen me perform?" the blonde asked, a little bit more freaked but mainly intrigued.

"I just saw you," Callie explained, "you were incredible. You played the shrink, right?"

"yeah," Arizona said, slowly holding out her hand, "thanks, I'm Arizona".

"Callie," she said, shaking the hand, "and don't mention it. I don't see a lot of plays, but that was amazing".

"I bet you say that to all the actors." Arizona winked.

"oh, only he pretty ones." Callie smiled.

The women looked into one another's eyes, completely comfortable.

"Callie, Callie, Callie..."Arizona began to coo. Her face turned into a blur her voice became deep.

"Callie! Callie! Hey Torres wake up!" Mark shoved his best friend, "no sleeping in my car!"


	2. Chapter 2

Ok so wow, thank you so much I did not expect this reaction so thank you so much.

I plan to update at least three times a fortnight but you guys have been screaming for more so...

Thank you so much to everyone who helped and, remember, I don't own anything!

Here you go:

* * *

**Chapter 2**

"No sleeping in my bar!"

Arizona woke with a start. She had not slept properly in, well years, but recently she had not had more than a few minutes sleep every night. She had come down to the hotel bar so she wouldn't have to be alone in her room for hours.

"Sorry Joe." Arizona gave the bartender a small wave. She did not like the Archfield, it was big and cold and corporate, but she did like Joe, the bartender.

"its ok sweetie, but I've got to ask you to leave the bar now, we're locking up." Joe gave her a sympathetic smile as he wiped some glasses with a cloth.

"Already? It's only..."Arizona checked her watch, "3 am, oh."

"You know, if you want a drink, there's a pretty cute bar down the street, owned by a friend of mine. She stays open all night usually." Joe offered.

Arizona considered this, she wasn't a heavy drink and had to wake up tomorrow morning, but she was unlikely to get much sleep anyway and talking to a friendly face was far better than drifting in and out of a nightmare filled slumber. "Where is it?"

"Around two blocks down, towards the space needle. It's called Calliope's.

Arizona stood to go, just before she turned to leave she gave Joe a tip and thanked him.

The roads of Seattle were deserted, the air was still crisp from the day's rain and the pavement glistened in the light of the street lamps. Arizona fished in her purse for a cigarette, she didn't normally smoke but the stress of the day had wound her up tightly.

As she lit up and inhaled, the images of bad newspaper reviews and mocking co-workers became less painful. She watched a racoon jump out of a trashcan, knocking some of the wrappers and papers in it to the ground. A car drove past, crushing some of the litter.

"That trash is me, "Arizona bitterly smiled to herself as she dropped her cigarette in a puddle and went over to pick up the trash. She found a newspaper lying open next to the trashcan; she almost didn't give it a second thought until she saw the name "Owen Hunt" in the article. "This must be the early reviews from the play."

She read as she walked, the story and directing was very highly praised, Arizona wasn't surprised, Owen Hunt had more talent in his toenail than most actors or directors Arizona knew. His potential was truly wasted writing small time productions for washed up Broadway has-beens.

"_Arizona Robbins gave a convincing portrayal of the shrink. The actress had been well known in the acting world several years ago before suddenly and inexplicably falling off the radar."_

Well, it could've been worse. The play got 3/4 stars overall, so Owen will be happy. It also meant that they would be staying in Seattle for a while, as they got a pretty good reception.

Arizona looked up to find herself outside Calliope's. A bell rang as she opened the door.

* * *

Callie heard the bell ring. It was a quiet night, and there were only a couple of guys there. In fact, most nights recently had been quiet. Business was definitely slowing down recently. She glanced up to see who had entered.

_Holy fuck, it's her._ Callie literally pinched herself to make sure that she was not asleep again. Nope, she was awake and Arizona Robbins had entered her bar.

The blonde slowly approached the counter and sat down; she was fiddling with a newspaper. Callie took a deep breath as she approached her. "Can I get you anything?"

"Oh," Arizona looked up from her paper, "can I have a beer please?"

Callie lightly laughed to herself as she poured the drink; she had dreamt that Arizona would order a scotch on the rocks. "Here you go." She smiled as she passed the drink over.

Arizona took a massive gulp of the beer. "Thanks." She swallowed, and extended her hand "I'm Arizona, Joe at the Archfield sent me over."

Callie had to stop herself from laughing again as she shook her hand, "I'm Callie," she smiled again, "Joe and I have an agreement, if he sends me his closing customers, I give them a half off."

Arizona gave her a large, dimpled grin. "Awesome."

* * *

_Awesome? You are such a dork! _Arizona scolded herself. The bartender was insanely hot and the blonde could not flirt to save her life. She was speechless when she had looked up from her paper to see a pair of large, chocolate eyes and a pair of plump, red lips. Callie moved around the bar with elegance and ease, she seemed to brim with confidence, which was a massive turn on for Arizona. The Latina didn't seem to notice Arizona's dumbstruck-ness, she carried on chatting to the actress.

"so you are staying at the Archfield? Are you visiting Seattle?"

"yes, um, I'm here for work." Arizona stuttered. Callie didn't look up from the counter, but she continued the conversation with ease.

"what do you do?"

"Act. I'm... I'm an actress" Arizona fumbled, "I act"

The bartender let out a small giggle and looked up, the two instantly made eye contact. Electricity ran through Arizona's mind as she studied Callie's eyes; they were a sea of chocolate that Arizona could easily get lost in.

"I saw you, I think." Callie said after breaking several moments of sustained eye contact by pouring herself a glass of water.

"sorry, what?" Arizona asked, she was taken aback by the sudden declaration, "saw me when?"

Callie giggled again, "tonight, You're Arizona Robbins, you played the shrink, right?" Arizona gave her a stunned look, "there aren't many blonde, pretty, actresses in Seattle called Arizona."

Arizona gave her a small smile, "so, what did you think? Be honest."

Callie sighed before looking directly into Arizona's eyes again, "You were perfect, you stole the show, really."

The actress was stunned; it had been years since she last got this kind of feedback from a complete stranger. She didn't know how what to say, instead, she glanced around the small bar. An older man was in the corner, asleep, his head knocking against a glass of whiskey as he snored.

"Is...is he ok?" Arizona asked Callie, whose back was now turned to her.

"who?" Callie spun around and saw who Arizona was pointing at, "oh, that's Richard, he's a regular. He almost lives here when his wife is out of town."

"Why is that?"

Callie rested on the counter in front of Arizona and looked at him, "It's pretty sad actually, he fell in love with a married woman. They were going to run away together but she backed out at the last minute. Now he's stuck in this loveless marriage whilst the woman he loves lives hundreds of miles away with her husband." Whilst Callie told the story, Arizona observed her more closely. Her lips were dark red and plump, her skin was a smooth light caramel. Combined with the dark chocolate eyes, Arizona was almost hungry with desire.

"So he just sleeps here every night?" she asked.

"No, he'll wake up in a few minutes and I'll take him to his room, tomorrow morning I'll have some breakfast sent up to him. This place is also an inn. I like to take care of my guests."

Arizona considered this, "so, are all of your guests lonely, depressed and in need of being taken care of?"

Callie laughed and wiped the counter, "Only recently. When we first opened business was booming. We had families and couples and groups of friends stay here. But a couple of months ago, all the happy people started staying at the Archfield." Callie finished wiping bent down to put the rag away, giving Arizona an eyeful of cleavage before standing up again, "Just call this place '_Calliope's Lonely Hearts Club'_."

Arizona downed the rest of the drink and hit the table with a fist. "I'm in!" she declared.

"What?"

Arizona stood up, "I'm going to get my things. Obviously _I'm _staying in the wrong hotel, any room at the inn?" she asked, banging the counter again.

Callie couldn't help but smile at the dramatic performance, "of course."

* * *

_'Of course'_ Callie thought as she woke up to a large thud, '_of course I get woken up by some drunk banging at the door'_

Callie rolled out of bed and threw on her bathrobe and slippers. She sleepily shuffled to her door and let out a colossal yawn as she opened it.

Lying, in the middle of the hallway, was Arizona Robbins. "Oh my god!" Callie ran over to find the blonde in floods of tears, breathing erratically. she placed her hands on Arizona's arms and gently held her still.

"Are you ok? What happened? Just breathe for me Arizona ok, Just breathe."

The blonde finally opened her eyes and looked straight into Callie's. Callie began to breathe slowly and heavily, prompting for Arizona to copy her.

"in...out...in...out..." Callie chanted as the actress calmed down. After several moments, Arizona began to breathe normally. Callie let go of her and handed her a tissue from her pocket.

"don't worry, it's clean." she smiled as Arizona took the tissue and wiped her face slowly. "Are you alright?"

Arizona nodded, "Yeah...I'm not a great sleeper," she went to get up, "I suppose I should've told you that." She said as Callie stood and helped pull her off the floor.

"Hey, don't worry, I'm just glad you aren't hurt." Callie smiled comfortingly as she gently rubbed Arizona's arms. Callie had been terrified and heartbroken when she saw Arizona in a crying heap. "do you need anything? water? cocoa?"

Arizona shuffled uncomfortably, "I...I just need company. If you dont mind, could I just...talk, it may take my mind off...stuff." Callie creased her eyebrows in concern. "You dont have to!" Arizona quickly added, "you know what? forget it I'll be fine." She shrugged as she went to go back into her room.

"Arizona," Callie took her hand and pulled her back into the hallway, "come into my room and we'll talk."

"really? I mean...it's late and-"

"It's not like I have anywhere to be tomorrow," Callie shrugged '_or anyone to be with' _she silently added, her dreams had been full of Erica's cruel rejection of her earlier today, and she was happy to have a distraction. "Besides, I like to take care of my guests, remember?"

"Thanks" Arizona gave her a small smile and allowed herself to be lead into Callie's room.

The innkeeper flipped on her lights and sat Arizona down on a small. Callie's room was larger than the others; it was more of a studio apartment than a hotel room. Whilst Arizona just had a bed, closet, chairs and separate bathroom in her room, Callie had a section with a TV and armchairs, as well as a mini-kitchen area.

"So," Callie slumped onto an armchair directly opposite Arizona, "what do you wanna do?"

Arizona shrugged, "I don't mind"

Callie thought for a moment, then inspiration hit her. "what is your happiest memory as a kid?"

"err," Arizona thought for a moment, "when I was eight, my brother and our friends wanted to go camping, but our parent wouldn't let us. So we crept into the living room in the middle of the night and made a fort of sheets and pillows." Arizona began to smile broadly as she recalled the memory, "we made s'mores in the oven and had pillows fights. Why?"

Callie couldn't help but grin at Arizona's adorable expression. "because you were sad, and when I'm sad I think of what makes me happy, and I do it." She marched into the kitchen and poked her nose through her cupboards. "I don't think I have the ingredients for s'mores...but I have wine!"

Arizona chuckled, "wine's good too!" She smiled as Callie opened the bottle and poured them both a drink. "you must be sick of preparing drinks."

Callie sat back down on the armchair and handed Arizona her glass. "Are you kidding? I can't get enough of bartending. It's what _I _do when _I'm _sad. "she waited for Arizona take a drink before getting up again. The blonde watched her throw the pillows and sheets off of her bed.

"what are you doing?" she laughed

"making a fort!" Callie replied as if it were the obvious answer. She threw a couple of cushions at her, "you help too!"

"Yes ma'am" Arizona stood up and started to rearrange the furniture so Callie was able to drape her bed sheets across the sofa and armchairs. The padded the sides with pillows and cushions before both women sat on the floor underneath the sheet, drinking wine and leaning on the backs of the chairs. They were extremely close together, their ankles touching.

"I suppose when you're a kid there's more room in these things," Arizona smiled.

Callie poured them both some more wine. "I never did this, when I was younger. My sister and I have too big an age gap; I was twelve when she was born. I never really _played _as a kid." she explained as the actress downed her drink and tipped her glass forward for Callie to pour another.

"so what did you do? For fun?"

"I baked," Callie replied, "I learnt to cook when I was like, a foetus, I don't know." She couldn't think straight. The dangerous combination of alcohol and a hot girl in a close proximity put Callie into a bit of a daze. "Damn, " she muttered as she tipped the empty wine bottle upside down, "All gone!" she declared, before getting a face full of pillow.

Arizona smirked as she held another pillow up in defence, "I declare a pillow fight!"

Callie laughed and hit Arizona with her pillow and the two women immediately leapt up, forgetting the piles of sheets and cushions surrounding them. The fort immediately crumpled to the ground. They stood there in hysterics, laughing away like maniacs surrounded by bedding and furniture. Arizona had to hold onto Callie's shoulders so she wouldn't fall from the laughter.

Eventually, they calmed down and found themselves holding onto one another, staring into one another's eyes, faces inches apart.

"you know," Callie quietly said, not breaking eye contact with the Arizona, "if this were a movie or a book, we'd probably kiss right now."

Arizona studied Callie's face for a bit before quietly responding, "yeah".

After several more moments of staring into one another's eyes, the women burst out laughing again, releasing one another and falling to the ground.

"I hate those movies!" Callie declared, "wanna watch one?"

"Sure!" Arizona laughed.

Callie jumped on the bed and Arizona followed her, she turned on her TV and found a sappy RomCom available on her pay per view service. At some point during the movie, Arizona had rested her head on Callie's shoulder. She was asleep.

Callie turned off the TV and slowly moved from underneath the blonde and threw her covers over her. She watched the peaceful actress slowly breathe. '_Fuck,' _Callie thought '_she is beautiful'. _Callie dashed into the room opposite to turn off the light, she saw Arizona's phone on the bedside table. Thinking that Arizona may miss her phone, she took it and placed it beside her when she returned to her own room.

Satisfied that her guest was comfortably asleep, Callie took some spare sheets and laid down on her sofa, eagerly anticipating the new face awaiting her in her dreams. Tonight, at least, everything was going to be okay.


	3. Chapter 3

Wow, thank you thank you thank you for sticking with me so far and for the awesome reviews and wow, thankyou

this one is a little less exciting but you've got a lot to look forward to! (drama, thrills etc.)

so I'm thinking of updating every over Monday, Thursday and Wednesday (in that order) so you'll get three chapters a fortnight. That might decrease in the spring when I've got exams, so lets see.

Also, thanks to the betas and friends who helped me write

I own nothing!

* * *

Chapter 3

"Robbins! Is everything okay?" Arizona rolled her eyes as she held the phone to her ear; she had woken up to 24 missed calls from Alex and had waited until now to call back. "Your room is empty; we all thought you had run off."

"Can everyone please stop assuming that I'm planning to run away?" she huffed as she played with the last of her scrambled eggs, "A friend of mine recommended a different hotel, so I'm staying there. It's just down the street, I'm still in Seattle."

"Alright then," she heard Alex sigh with relief, Arizona could picture her friends frantically running through the Archfield, looking for her. "So...I'll see you tonight then?"

"Yes Alex," Arizona sighed, "and the night after that and the night after that-"

"Okay, okay. Bye dude."

"Bye" Arizona sang as she put the phone back onto the table and shovelled the last of her eggs into her mouth.

"Whoa! Slow down there!" a voice from behind her called out. A young, brunette waitress walked around Arizona's table and handed her a glass of orange juice off a tray. "The eggs may be fresh, but they aren't about to walk away!" she smiled.

Arizona swallowed hungrily. "They are just so good, do you think you could pass on my compliments to the chef?"

"you could tell him yourself, you know." The brunette offered. Arizona nodded and stood up to follow the waitress into the kitchen. When they approached the large doors, the young girl called, "a guest is here to talk to you Mark!"

A deep male voice rumbled, "send em in, Lex!" as the waitress opened the door. Arizona glanced around the kitchen; a tall man in a white coat stood behind an oversized frying pan. He smiled flirtatiously at Arizona and offered his hand.

"Mark Sloan."

"Arizona" the blonde greeted him, shaking the hand, "I just wanted to say that I loved the eggs. Best I've ever eaten."

Mark smiled and bowed his head slightly, "well thank you Ari-"

"Arizona?" Callie's voice called as the doors opposite suddenly burst open. The innkeeper walked into the kitchen and stood next to Mark, "what are you doing here?"

"oh!" Arizona felt her cheeks redden, "I was just...paying my compliments...to the chef. I'm sorry I just sneaked out this morning, I didn't want to wake you."

Callie looked at her, transfixed, "no, no, don't...don't worry I just..." she swallowed and took a deep breath, "I'm glad that you're alright." she smiled.

"well, um, I'm fine. Er, thanks for the eggs." Arizona continued to blush furiously as she nodded as Mark and walked back into the dining room, feeling the doors slam behind her.

* * *

Callie watch the doors slam behind Arizona as she left.

"What the hell was that?" Mark laughed as he shook the drying pan in front of him.

Callie took a cup of coffee and sighed, "That," she drank some coffee, "was Arizona Robbins."

"sounds like trouble." Mark teased.

"she shouldn't be. Despite being incredibly adorable and insanely hot, she's almost definitely straight" Callie lamented as she drank more coffee.

Mark looked up from his frying pan "and how do you know that?"

"She slept in my room last night. This morning I woke up to go to the bathroom and her phone was ringing."

"so?"

"It was a _guy _Mark, I saw his photo appear on the caller ID. What kind of guys phones a girl at four in the morning if he isn't doing her?"

Mark thought carefully and nodded, "good point, but you saw how she reacted to you just now? She has the hots!"

Callie rolled her eyes, "you think all women have the hots Mark, you were convinced that Erica wanted you for months!"

Mark peered at her from the side, "she did." he said wisely. "Anyway, this isn't about me, this is about you. Do you like this Arizona?"

"even if I did Mark," Callie downed the rest of her drink, "she is straight, she is taken and she would never take an interest in me."

* * *

_'She would never take an interest in me.' _Arizona told herself as she walked to the inn that afternoon. She had met Alex for lunch in the Archfield and was now getting some stuff from her room before heading to the theatre for the night's show.

All through lunch, she had been distracted. Thinking about Callie; how caring she was, how funny she was, how jaw-droppingly hair-raisingly attractive she was. There was no way in the world that she was _both _single _and _gay. She had been staying at Calliope's for a few days, and had not seen much of the innkeeper since the first morning. Arizona occupied her time with making friends with the other members of staff and contacting talent agencies.

She walked through the main entrance of the inn to see a man in a suit typing at a computer on the receptionists' desk. "hi Derek!" she waved cheerfully.

Derek looked up, "Miss Robbins!" he smiled back, "did you enjoy your lunch?"

"yeah, it was great. Is Callie around?" Arizona had not meant to ask it, but it just came out.

"oh,er, Miss Torres is actually at an engagement at the moment. Can I help you?" Derek explained apologetically.

A pang of disappointment hit Arizona in the chest, "no, its fine, don't worry. I'll see you later?"

"Yes, I'm actually coming to see your play tonight!"

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, I was going to go a few nights ago but, my wife and I had an emergency appointment to get to."

"Your wife is...Meredith, right?"

Derek smiled, "yeah, that's right. She is also looking forward to seeing it tonight."

"Awesome, I'll see you tonight then." she gave a little wave as she pressed the button for the elevator.

"see you tonight!" Derek called as the doors pinged open.

Arizona jumped into the elevator, "oh" she quipped when she saw Callie standing there.

"Hi calliope." Arizona grinned; her face was burning up again.

Callie smiled at the flustered blonde, "hey Arizona. Going up?"

"Yeah, but you can leave I know you must have been going down"

"Dont worry about it" Callie said as she hit the button and stood back so Arizona could let the doors close, "I wanted to talk to you anyway."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, um, so are you feeling better? You said that you don't sleep well and I've sort of been listening out just in case you-"

"In case I go sleep walking again?" Arizona had to interrupt to hide her embarrassment, "I've...I've been making sure to lock my door so I won't bother you again." She explained.

"Oh, Arizona you know it wasn't a bother. I had fun!" Callie put her hand on Arizona's shoulder "I want to make sure you are comfortable here"

The elevator doors opened and Arizona got out, "Calliope," she turned to look at the Latina who remained where she was, "can we be friends?"

Callie laughed at her dorkiness . "Yes Arizona. We can be friends"

Arizona allowed a huge, dimpled smile to appear on her face as the elevator doors closed. If she couldn't have relationship with Callie, at least she could have a friendship.

As soon as she opened the door to her room, she collapsed onto her bed and took out her laptop to check if any of the emails she had sent out before had a response. Whenever Arizona went to a new city, she would send out a few emails to local talent agencies in search of some extra work. She opened her inbox and read the only new message;

"_Dear Miss Robbins,_

_Thank you very much for your email, I am always very interesting in scoping out new talent to the area._

_Conveniently, I will be in the audience of your production tonight at the Seattle Grace Theatre. I would very much like to meet with you backstage after the show._

_Kind regards,_

_Miranda Bailey"_

Arizona was delighted, she quickly typed back a reply and took out her phone to text Alex the news. She had to make tonight's performance amazing.

* * *

"That performance was amazing!" Callie heard Derek announce as he entered the bar, followed by Meredith.

"I thought you had taken tonight off." Callie said as she poured a couple of beers, for nearby customers Saturday night was busy for any bar, even hers.

"We had, but we wanted to get a drink after the show." Meredith explained as they navigated through the crowds towards the bar, "can I have a coke please?"

"sure," Callie smiled as she got out a bottle of coke and poured it into a glass with some ice, "anything for you, Derek?"

"Whiskey please," he said as the couple sat down, "luckily I'm not driving tonight." he grinned as Callie gave them their drinks.

"On the house," she told them, "congratulations, by the way."

"Thank you" Meredith grinned.

The bell rang again to indicate another customer, Arizona had entered the bar looking overjoyed. She ran over to Callie as soon as she saw her.

"I got an agent!" she squealed.

"What?"

"There was an agent, in the audience tonight, Miranda Bailey, she loved my performance and wants to represent me!" Arizona literally jumped for joy as Callie came round the bar and pulled Arizona in for a hug.

"That's amazing, well done!" They embraced for a bit longer than they needed to, enjoying the feeling of being in one another's arms. Callie heard Derek cough awkwardly and quickly pulled away before going back behind the bar.

"A drink for the actress please!" he announced.

"Here" Callie said, handing Arizona a glass as she poured a drink into it.

"What's this?" Arizona sniffed at the brown liquid.

"A scotch on the rocks" Callie said as she plopped a strip of lemon peel in the glass, "with a twist. I have a feeling that you'd like it."

Arizona shrugged and took a sip, "hmm, I do like it!" she declared as she sat in front of the bar. "You must know me so well." she smiled.

"So what does this mean, now that you have an agent?" Meredith asked.

"well, when she hears about a part or role that I'd be good for, she'll arrange for me to audition and will put me in contact with whoever is running them." Arizona explained as she drank more of her scotch on the rocks with a twist, "why does it have lemon?"

"That's the twist," Callie said, "the aromatic oils in the peel add flavour."

"Wow, you really know your stuff." Arizona said as she drank the rest of it. "Another please Madame Bartender!"

Arizona, Derek and Meredith stayed at the bar for hours, Callie served them drink after drink and took delight in seeing Arizona celebrating. Eventually, Meredith picked Derek off his stool and said goodbye to the women.

"why wasn't Meredith drinking?" Arizona asked when the couple had left.

"She's pregnant. She just found out the other night."

"That's amazing!" Arizona squealed, making Callie snigger. Arizona was so happy, any news could bring her the utmost joy. "Callie?" she asked, slightly slurring her words.

"what is it Arizona?" The innkeeper leaned forward in the counter in front of her.

"will you help me run lines? when I get auditions?" Arizona grinned.

Callie watched the adorable blonde's dimpled face, "I'll tell you what. If you ever need help with an audition, you," she took a napkin and pen, "call me," she scribbled down her number and handed it over, "and I'll come running."

Arizona took hold of the napkin and stared into Callie's eyes. "thank you."

Callie looked back into the pools of blue. "Any time."


	4. Chapter 4

So you guys are liking this so far? I hope so, the reviews and follow count have looked good so thank you!

A word on this story, IRL I'm writing this as I'm publishing. I'm writing chapter 19 atm but in the long run I have no ending in sight and no clear plot in mind, so I'm just letting the spirit move me.

This was a nice little chapter to write, I even squeezed a Sara Ramirez quote in here that inspired me to write this fic, see if you can spot it!

I'm also uploading my fics to my tumblr now, visit my profile for the link, the url is McWhoPuff

Once again, please follow/review if you want more, thank you to my lovely betas.

I own nothing! Here we go...

* * *

Chapter 4

"You know what to do!" Mark chuckled as Lexie nervously flipped another pancake.

Callie found the two adorably cooking the breakfast that morning, breaking eggs with each other's hands and whisking with their arms intertwined. Currently, Lexie was trying to handle the giant frying pan, Mark had his arms around her and was also holding the pan.

"one...two...three...FLIP!" they yelled in unison as they threw the pancake into the air and caught it in the pan.

"whoop!" Lexie yelled, turning around and kissing Mark on the lips.

"Alright, alright, get a room you two, we prepare food in here." Callie warned as she went through to the dining room to find Arizona poking at her pancakes. Callie could feel her heart disintegrating in her chest, Arizona had never looked more depressed. She had a distant expression on her face and a sad look in her eyes.

"You ok?" she softly asked, sitting across from the blonde. She searched for her eyes with her own but Arizona did not look at her.

"yeah..." Arizona answered as she put down her fork and clasped her hands around her coffee mug.

"hey," Callie put her hands around Arizona's to get her attention, "talk to me." Arizona looked into Callie's soft eyes and sighed.

"I couldn't sleep... so I getup... and I see four or five scripts Bailey has sent me... and I think 'great! scripts, I've gotta learn these'... and then I go out... because I wanted to get some exercise...and I realise...I'm a horrible person." Arizona slowly explained. Callie watched her eyes as she spoke, they were paler than before, as if they were clouded over.

"You are not a horrible person." Callie said simply, rubbing her thumbs over Arizona's knuckles.

Arizona gave out a small laugh and looked down at her decapitated pancakes, "I'm planning on abandoning my friends. My friends who...who took me in when I had nobody else." she looked up at Callie again, "I bail...When things get hard, I...I walk away, And maybe it's because I grew up an army brat. We moved every 18 months. Maybe I never learned to commit, and my friends...they know this and...and they look past it. But now I'm just walking out on them again. I am a horrible person."

"Arizona, listen to me. I've seen horrible. I know horrible. You are the furthest thing from horrible imaginable. You are a sweet, caring, innocent soul. You are not a horrible person." Callie earnestly looked at the blonde until Arizona gave a small smile.

"You know...exactly what to say, don't you?" Arizona sniffed as she took her hands from Callies and put her fork and knife together on her plate.

'_only when it comes to how I feel about you' _Callie silently replied. She took Arizona's hand and gently stood her up.

"Of course I do; I'm a bartender. Now get your ass to my room right now, we are running lines."

Arizona gratefully hugged Callie.

"I'm so glad we're friends." she heard the blonde say in her ear.

Callie's spirit fell again, "yeah," she said, trying to hide her heartbreak, "me too."

* * *

"Page Two" Arizona pointed to Callie's script, "you are playing the... er...peasant, sorry."

Callie laughed, "no it's fine, let's do this!" she wiggled around in her seat. They had been rehearsing for almost two hours, Arizona had Callie play a queen, a mother and a talking donkey. Despite the hard work and effort, Arizona was pleased with her progress and took delight in seeing how engrossed Callie got with her parts.

"So, am I like a sassy peasant or a woe-is-me peasant?" Callie raised an eyebrow, making Arizona snicker.

"Callie, this in an ad for rat poison, all you have to do is cough, okay?"

Callie nodded and Arizona began reading her script. "What a beautiful kingdom! it is such a shame that these peasants are dying of plague...Callie."

"What?" Callie looked up from her script, Arizona had to be careful not to melt at her adorable enthusiasm.

"Cough!"

"Oh yeah!" Callie laughed, "alright start again, I'm ready this time."

As Arizona began to read, an alert on her phone sounded.

"Crap, that's my first audition." Arizona announced, standing up and gathering her scripts.

Callie stood up too and gave her a small hug, "you'll be fine. You. Are. Amazing."

Arizona wanted to remain in the tight embrace, but Callie quickly pulled back, allowing Arizona to walk down to the front entrance, where Bailey was waiting for her.

"Arizona!" she smiled, "are you ready for your first audition?"

Arizona put on her best dimpled smile, "sure am"

Bailey gestured her to follow as she left the inn and got into a car. Arizona buckled up and Bailey started to pull out of the parking lot. "Now, Seattle isn't a big acting place, this isn't Hollywood dear. All this stuff is low budget for local stuff, ok?"

"I understand" Arizona said, she was fully aware that making a name for herself in Seattle wasn't really where her true ambitions lied, but anything had to be better than suffering in the shadow of Izzie Stevens every night.

They arrived at the studio. "This is where I leave you, I like to drive my clients to their first auditions but after this, you are on your own. You have my number if you need me, but don't worry. I saw you in that play Arizona, I've never represented such a talented actress."

"Thank you Bailey!" Arizona got out of the car and walked into the studio. She was shown to a room full of young, blonde women, waiting for their auditions.

"Oh my god!" Arizona heard a painfully familiar voice amongst the crowd, "Arizona Robbins has decided to grace us with her presence?"

Arizona glared at Izzie, "what the hell are you doing here?"

Izzie looked around the room innocently, "cant a girl get a little extra work here and there? I know it's not the big leagues like you but-"

"ok shut up." Arizona snapped, the room fell silent.

"I'm sorry?" Izzie asked

"You need to stop. You need to stop telling people that I'm leaving and you need to stop taunting me for my..my..."

"for your tragic career?" Izzie sniggered.

Arizona saw red, before she knew it, she had dropped all of her stuff to the floor and had Izzie pinned against the wall.

"OK Now listen here! We are in the same boat! Owen took us both in like abandoned puppies! You are going to stop being a whiny, passive aggressive little bitch!"

Izzie was silent, she stood against the wall with her mouth wide open. She had no clever retort to that. Two men appeared behind Izzie.

"Miss, we need to escort you off the premises." One of them said.

"dont worry about it," Arizona said as she let go of the blonde and picked up her things, "I was just leaving." Arizona marched out of the studio and rested her head against the brick wall, she waited for the tears to come.

But they didn't. Arizona couldn't bring herself to cry. Arizona had thought all of that for years, and she had finally said it. She finally told off Izzie Stevens. She laughed as the realisation dawned on her. She began laughing hysterically, people passing her on the streets were staring, but she didn't care. For the first time in her life, Arizona had let her emotions get the better of her, and it felt _so fucking good._

She knew that she should go inside and apologise, she should go inside and grovel and beg for that part. But what was the point? Instead, she took out her phone and rang the only person she wanted to talk to.

"Hello?"

"Hi? Callie I need some help."

"Anything, Arizona." Callie said without any hesitation, "I mean, what do you need?"

"Could you pick me up from my audition? Bailey was going to come for me but it finished early and I dont know the way."

"sure, text me the address, I'll be right there."

"Thank you Calliope "Arizona said as she leaned against the wall.

* * *

Callie spotted the blonde leaning against the brick wall outside the studio and slowed down. As she pulled up beside her, Callie turned down the radio before leaning over to open the door. Arizona laughed as she sat down and put her head in her hands.

"Are you ok?" Callie asked, she couldn't tell if she was laughing or crying.

Arizona picked her head up and turned to Callie, her large grin confirmed that it was the former.

"oh, yeah..." she chuckled, "I...I told her off Callie. I held her down and told her to shut the hell up. I've been wanting to do that for years!" she threw her head back in more laughter.

Callie smiled as she pulled away from the pavement. "Wanna give me some context Robbins?"

"hmmm, nope. Just be happy for me, I've never acted on an impulse before. It feels AWESOME!" Arizona pumped her fist.

Callie's heart melted at the adorable blonde. "You know, I've been told that you shouldn't always follow your heart over your head. I've always struggled with that." She admitted.

"Calliope," Arizona said softly, "my dad is a marine, my entire life has been scheduled and planned. But, since I got here...well...I think Seattle is bringing out my spontaneous side for once, and I love it!" Arizona turned up the radio and did a little dance to whatever song was playing.

Callie watched her in her peripheral vision. She had no idea what was going on with Arizona but she was overjoyed at seeing how happy the actress was. The next song started and Arizona started singing along to the lyrics, her voice took Callie completely by surprise. It was soft, smooth and made Callie feel things she had never felt before.

"whoa, you're amazing. Where did you learn to sing?" Callie asked, turning the radio down slightly so her eardrums wouldn't burst. Arizona went to turn the music down further, her hand brushing slightly against Callie's. Callie went back to driving, hoping Arizona didn't sense the blatant electricity between them.

"well," Arizona started, seemingly unfazed, "because of my dad being in the army, my brother and I moved around a lot as kids. That's why I'm used to travelling I suppose. Anyway, when I was 16, I went to New York for the first time. My brother and I went to see a show on Broadway and I fell in love with theatre. From that point onwards, I dedicated my entire life to getting up on that stage. I even applied to Julliard's."

"wow," Callie breathed, "did you get in?"

"yeah, but I didn't go. See, by the time they accepted my application, we had already moved on to the next state. I was heartbroken, but I went away and practised some more, I got cast in some small productions and I even got vocal training. I spent all my time, money and energy on practising. I went back to New York when I was 18, ready to take Broadway by storm. I auditioned for everything, eventually I was cast in some small plays by up and coming directors, and, over time, I began to gain a bit of a reputation. They said I was easy to work with on and off the stage, which is a rare find. To act, you have to be ready to handle any situation at any moment, and I suppose my military background trained me well. For me...for me theatre feeds my heart and soul."

"I like that," Callie commented as she digested the words, "i understand what you mean, you're loving your job, but you also allow it to develop you as a person."

Arizona nodded in confirmation. Callie was intrigued, she knew that Arizona must've had a theatre background, but she never realised that just how passionate about theatre she was. "so...what happened?"

Arizona shuffled uncomfortably, "oh...you know...it didn't really work," she dismissed, "and thank god it didn't, because if I had to be on stage tonight, I couldn't do this!" She quickly turned up the radio and continued to belt out the tune.

Callie couldn't help it, she just had to join in. She loved Arizona's new carefree and cheerful, although slightly evasive, attitude. She allowed herself to belt out the song, she felt their voices dance together through their harmonies.

"you're not too bad yourself." Arizona said when the song had finished.

"well, Calliope means music," she informed her, "and I trained too."

"Really? Where?"

"err, my shower, the car and...oh sometimes if I'm alone in the elevator I hum along to the muzak. I've umm, I've never sang in front of anybody before." She admitted.

"But your voice... it's amazing...why-"

"Glossophobia" Callie quickly explained, "I love to sing but not in front of anybody."

"except me?"

Callie turned to grin at the passenger, "you, Arizona, always tend to be an exception."

"and why's that?" Arizona asked as she gently looked into Callie's eyes.

'_this is it' _Callie thought '_this is when you tell her, this is when you find out for sure'_

"Arizona, I think-"

"HOLY CRAP LOOK OUT!" Arizona screamed.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello my lovely readers

Liked the cliff hanger? I said we had drama and thrill to look forward too, there is plenty more in this little chapter too.

I really loved reading all your reviews so keep them coming!

Once again, thank you to all the support from friends and betas, I own nothing, and away we go:

* * *

"HOLY CRAP LOOK OUT!" Arizona screamed. She saw a flash of white before she opened her eyes. Arizona allowed tears to glide down her cheeks as she breathed slowly. She heard a knock on her door.

"Arizona? Are you alright?" she heard a muffled voice call out.

Arizona wiped her face and counted to ten. "Come in!"

Callie slowly entered her room. She sat on the edge of the bed. "I just wanted to apologise again for not paying attention on the road today." she explained.

"No you didn't," Arizona sighed, sitting up, "I already told you that I was okay after that, you didn't hit the deer and you regained control of the car. I overreacted. You came in because you heard me screaming, didn't you?"

Callie stared at her hands as she slowly nodded her head, "I need to make sure you are okay."

"I am, Calliope." Arizona got out of bed and walked over to sit next to Callie, "I've been okay for four years." She tried to make eye contact with the Latina, who continued to study the palms of her hands.

They sat in silence. Arizona couldn't think of what to say. She had completely freaked out when Callie had almost hit the deer today, she had begun to hyperventilate and sob uncontrollably. Suddenly, Callie grabbed hold of Arizona's hand and looked her straight in the eye.

"Talk to me Arizona" she silently demanded. Arizona studied Callie's face, they had never been so close before, she could see the smallest lines and pores on the Latina's skin.

"My brother died." Arizona breathed, "he..." she sighed, the words were hard to form with Callie so close. She stood up and went over to the window. "around four years ago, I was cast in my first big, Broadway production. It was a supporting role and it would've opened all these doors for me, but..." she took a deep breath, "my brother came to visit me that day, the day of opening night. I took him to Times Square, he was so excited, we both were, we ran around like idiots. We were crossing the street and a cab...a cab came out of nowhere. Tim... threw me out the way...he saved my life." she turned back round to Callie sitting on the bed, " I never turned up to opening night because I was in hospital, being told that there was nothing more that they could do for my brother. Every night I see the cab, every night I scream for him to get out of the way." silently tears fell down her cheeks again. "every night I relive watching my brother die for me."

Callie didn't say anything. She slowly stood and made her way towards the blonde, pulling her in for an embrace. Arizona allowed herself to hug Callie tightly to her body, she loved the feel of Callie's strong, comforting arms around her waist. She closed her eyes and silently inhaled her scent, it was an intoxicating combination of vanilla and coconut. Her new favourite smell.

After what seemed like an eternity, Callie pulled away, "do you want to sleep in my room tonight? You didn't have nightmares when you slept over."

Arizona allowed herself to nod as Callie took her by the hand and led her into the room opposite. Callie laid Arizona down on the bed and kissed her on the forehead.

"Callie?" she murmured

"yeah?"

"will you sing to me?"

Callie gave Arizona a small smile and began to sing a slow, Spanish lullaby", "A la nanita nana nanita ella, nanita ella, Mi nina tiene sueno bendito sea,bendito sea."

"that was beautiful," Arizona closed her eyes.

"Que tengas sueños dulces." Callie cooed. "sleep well"

* * *

"slept well?" Mark asked Callie as she went into the kitchen for her morning coffee.

"like a log" Callie lied as she drank. She had spent the night on her sofa whilst Arizona was in her bed, which she didn't mind. But, as the beautiful blonde slept, Callie had stayed awake as her mind swelled with thought. She had tossed and turned all night, trying to get Arizona out of her head, but to no avail.

"You're an awful liar, Torres." Mark teased as he cracked some eggs into a bowl and began to whisk. "what's up?"

Callie gave a massive sigh, "I think I'm falling for her Mark, like literally falling. I can't sleep, I can't eat..."

"here try this," Mark suddenly placed a forkful of omelette into Callie's open mouth, "great now you've eaten." he smiled.

"this isn't funny, Mark." Callie hit the chef playfully as she swallowed her eggs.

"okay, okay, you're right." Mark nodded, "look, Callie, I think you should just tell her how you feel. If she feels the same? Great! If she doesn't? Well she'll be gone in a few weeks."

Callie considered this, despite Arizona's disputes with her co-stars, she was still a part of the travelling theatre company. She could easily be gone very quickly.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Lexie entering the kitchen with a pile of dirty plates. Moring boss!" the waitress chirped. "I think Arizona wanted to talk to you, she's just eating..."

Callie did not wait to hear Lexie finish her sentence, she had already bolted out the kitchens doors to find Arizona sitting in the dining room, picking at a muffin and looking at a newspaper. Her blonde eyes frantically moving side to side as she read.

"good morning." Callie sat opposite Arizona, placing her coffee on the table.

"Calliope." Arizona smiled as she placed the newspaper on the table. "Just the woman I was looking for."

"what is it?"

Arizona shuffled in her seat and leaned forward. "I've been thinking, Callie, you've done so much for me these past few days. You've given me a place to stay, you let me sleep over, you drove me around and ran lines with me-"

"I was happy to do all those things for you Arizona." Callie interrupted. It was true, Callie took joy in making others happy, she took immense joy from making Arizona happy.

"Nonetheless," Arizona continued, "I want to return the favour. So you are coming out with me. Tonight, I don't have a show and Owen is throwing a party at the Archfield. You are coming."

"I don't know Arizona...I've got the bar and the guests and..."

"that has been taken care of." Arizona grinned, "Lexie and Derek are happy to take your shifts tonight, and Meredith says she's happy to cover for you tomorrow morning."

"wow, you've really befriended all my staff, haven't you?" Callie was bewildered, nobody had ever gone out of their way for her like this.

"I'm a very pleasant person Calliope," Arizona smirked, "when I'm not having emotional breakdowns or nightmares. You'd see that if you some out with me tonight. So, are you in?"

Callie couldn't think of an excuse. "I'm in."

* * *

"I'm in here!" Alex called from the hotel bathroom.

Arizona peered around his room, it was a mess. There were clothes strewn around the floor and empty glasses on all the surface. "My god Alex this place is a dump!"

Arizona heard the bathroom door open and turned around, Alex walked out of the steam-filled bathroom wearing a bathrobe and a towel on his shoulders. He used the corner of the towel to clean his ears as he went into the room. "Well I haven't got you breathing down my neck here. "_be nice to the staff!" "clean up your crap!"_" He mocked in a high pitched tone. He picked up a pile of clothes from the floor and threw the towel in its place.

"You can't blame me for your mess Karev," Arizona picked up the towel and threw it at the young man.

Alex chuckled, "I can and I will. So where are we headed? Finally gonna introduce me to your girlfriend?" he put on underwear and jeans under his bathrobe, before letting it drop to the floor and throwing a t-shirt over his head.

Arizona had missed her best friend, for the past week they had only seen each other around performances and the odd lunch out. Today, Arizona wanted to show him the inn, she had told him all about Callie and the staff and he was dying to meet them.

"Yes we are, and she's not my girlfriend Alex. She's my friend who's a girl, a _straight _girl."

Alex grabbed his keys, phone and wallet, "you sure about that?" he asked as he headed out the door, Arizona followed him and shut the door.

"Yes, if she were interested in me she would've taken a shot by now. She's had enough chances. She's wither straight or completely not interested." Arizona sadly answered as they walked down to the hotel lobby.

Alex turned around to her and gave her a goofy smile, "you know if you were straight, I'd totally do ya."

Arizona rolled her eyes, "charming" she muttered.

"seriously Robbins, dont go around thinking you're not good enough, you're hot, and it's _her _loss." Alex patted her on the shoulder before they walked out of the Archfield.

As they strolled down the street, they saw Izzie and Leah on the other side of the road, deep in conversation with one another.

"What are they up to?" Arizona mumbled.

Alex shrugged his shoulders, "I'm not sure, I always see them whispering together. They could be talking about me."

"Why would they be- oh Alex you didn't!"

Alex smirked, "It can be lonely on the road, and I am _gooood _company."

Arizona playfully hit his arm, "pig."

Alex hit her back, "prude."

They approached the main entrance of the inn, Callie was behind the receptionist's desk, typing away. She looked up and smiled when Arizona entered but looked straight back down when she saw Alex.

"Calliope," Arizona smiled as she went up the desk, "why are you here?"

"I work here Arizona" Callie did not look up from the computer in front of her, "I sort of own the place."

Arizona wrinkled her eyebrows, "are you ok?" had she offended Callie?

Callie quickly glanced up at her, "sure, fine, just really busy."

Arizona tried to keep up her perky demeanour, "well I was hoping you could join us for some lunch."

"I can't Arizona, I'm really busy. Derek's working tonight so i can go to the party but these emails have to be done by 2pm and its...already 1:30." Callie looked up at her apologetically, "have fun though."

Arizona heard Alex cough beside her, she had completely forgotten he was there, "oh, ok...this is Alex by the way, he's a friend."

Callie quickly glanced up at him and nodded, Alex smiled and made a little wave.

Arizona didn't hide her disappointment as she walked into the dining room, she was really looking forward to having lunch with her two favourite people in Seattle.

"You've got it bad, Robbins." Alex said as they sat down at a table.

Arizona said nothing as she watched the Latina through the dining room doors, he was right. This was very, very bad.

* * *

"this is very, very bad," Callie muttered as she fiddled with her dress "esto es muy malo"

"do you always speak in Spanish?" Arizona asked, they were walking towards the Archfield.

Callie looked up at the blonde, surprised. She had not realised that she had said that out loud. "only when I'm relaxed, or stressed, or angry. It's the only language my family spoke when I was little. I don't like using around others because they usually can't understand. Do you mind it?"

"No me importa, hablo un poco de español." Arizona grinned.

"Wow," Callie raised her eyebrows, impressed, "you are full of surprises today."

Arizona winked at the Latina, making her insides turn to jelly. The effect the actress had on her was incredible and slightly worrying. "I am, and there's no need to worry. You look beautiful Calliope."

Callie could feel herself blush furiously as they walked into the Archfield function room.

The dark hall was filled with drunken dancing and blaring music, her fellow bartender Joe stood at the side mixing cocktails. A redheaded man approached the women with a woman draped across his arm, Callie recognised her as one of the actresses.

"Glad you could make it Robbins!" he yelled over the thumping bass line, "it's an open bar!"

'_thank god' _Callie thought, she hated parties. She would need a few drinks to get through tonight.

"Thanks Owen!" Arizona yelled before turning to Callie, "I love this song!" she announced before taking Callie's hand and running into the dance floor. The perky blonde began jumping away to the music.

Callie shuffled uncomfortably on the dance floor, as soon as she got a chance, she ran off to the bar and greeted Joe.

"Hey Callie," he smiled as he handed her a margarita, "enjoying the party?" he teased.

Callie raised her eyebrows at him, Joe knew that this was not Callie's scene. She turned her head to the dance floor to see Arizona dancing with Alex, she could feel her blood beginning to boil with jealousy.

"Well I'm sure you're enjoying Arizona." he winked.

"what do you mean?" Callie asked as she downed her drink, she needed to feel the alcohol in her brain as soon as possible.

"well," Joe leaned towards Callie, "I just supposed, you two turning up together, both single, both gay..."

"Arizona's gay?!" Callie yelled a little too loudly.

Joe's eyes went wide, "you didn't know?"

"No!" Callie's head was spinning, "but what about Alex?"

Joes chuckled, "Alex screws everything in a skirt, but not Arizona. They're like siblings, and she's gay."

Callie blinked in shock and could feel her self esteem plummet. Arizona was gay, Arizona was gay and wasn't interested in her. Arizona was gay, single and very happy to remain as friends with Callie. '_Calliope, can we be friends?' _she could hear the blonde's cute voice ask her, she had been friend zoned without even realising it.

Callie could feel tears welling in her eyes. She thought about what Arizona said that morning, about all the things she had done for her. Was Arizona just using her?

how could she be so stupid? How could she be so stupid _again?_

"I'm sorry Joe I have to go," Callie stood up and ran towards the door.

"Callie, Calllie, wait!" Arizona yelled out as she passed the dance floor. Callie didn't look back.


	6. Chapter 6

This is a really short chapter and I hate to do this to you guys on a week with only ONE update, especially since this thing JUST got past 100 followers (woop woop).

Depending on how much I get written over the next couple of days, you guys might get a special second update this week to celebrate the milestone, but we will have to wait and see...

Like I said, this one is short but also incredibly important, and I would love to know what you guys think about it. I suppose this is where the plot really starts (especially for Callie). Also I would like your opinions on time-jumps...

Finally, a MASSIVE thank you to everyone reading this, just a reminder that this fic is also updated on my tumblr: mcwhopuff

Also, I own nothing and thank you beta-ry peeps

Here we go!

* * *

"Do you think she heard me? She didn't even look back!" Arizona yelled to Alex as they walked off the dance floor into a quiet corner.

"I'm not sure," Ale shrugged, "what do you think happened?"

Arizona shook her head, "I shouldn't have brought her. She hates parties; it must've gotten too much for her." She felt a pang of guilt run through her. Why had she forced Callie to come out with her? She looked up at Alex, "tell Owen I'm sorry, I've got to go after her." Arizona stood up determinedly and marched out of the door Callie exited through.

She walked straight into the bar; Lexie was behind the counter looking very shocked and confused.

"Arizona, what are you doing here..."

"Where's Callie?" Arizona interrupted the young girl.

"I..She...I'm not sure if I should tell you." she stuttered.

Arizona knew exactly what that meant, without another word, she marched straight into the kitchen to find Mark and Callie embracing. Callie was facing the opposite direction, but Mark looked straight up and whispered something into her ear.

Callie quickly glanced at the blonde. Arizona could see tears streaming down her face and her eyes were red and puffy. Callie shook her head and stormed out of the opposite doors into the dining room.

Mark looked directly at Arizona, "you hurt her." he accused, his friendly eyes had turned to stone.

"I would never-"

"Oh cut the crap Robbins!" Mark exclaimed as he went towards her, "you've been using Callie all this time. You were never interested in being friends with her, were you?"

Arizona was flabbergasted, of course she wasn't using Callie, but she was also not interested in a friendship with the woman who made her world spin. When she didn't answer him, Mark shook his head.

"I think you should leave." he announced.

Arizona searched for something to say. "What brought this on? Why would she suddenly think like this?"

Mark rolled his eyes, "I thought I told you to cut the crap. Callie is fragile, the day she met you she had just broken up with her girlfriend who was also no good for her-"

"Callie's gay?" Arizona whimpered

Mark looked confused, "yes she's gay but that's beside the point, Callie-"

Arizona sprinted out of the doors into the deserted dining room; she jumped around tables and chairs and dashed into the main lobby, where she could see the elevator door closing. As she ran towards them, she stuck out a fist and caught them open in the nick of time.

Callie was standing in the middle of the elevator; much like she had been the day Arizona asked if they could be friends. But this time, her cheeks were wet with fresh tears gliding down them, without a word, Arizona took Callies face in her hands.

The Latina opened her mouth to protest, but Arizona silenced her by crushing her lips onto them.

* * *

The blonde's soft lips took Callie by surprise. Her eyes went wide with shock and Callie quickly pulled away from her.

"What the hell?" Callie breathed. She could feel the ground beneath her shake and it wasn't the elevator.

Arizona stood back, she was flustered and breathing heavily "you...never...told me...you are... gay" she panted.

Callie's head was still spinning, she wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. "I'm not." she bluntly replied.

A look of terror appeared on Arizona's face.

"I mean.. I am!" Callie quickly corrected, "I'm..well I'm bi."

"What?"

"I like the V as well as the D-" Callie began to explain.

"No, no, I understand the concept of bisexuality," Arizona interrupted, "I just," she took a deep breath, her face was returning to natural colour, "I just don't understand why you never told me."

Callie stared into Arizona's eyes, trying to think of what to say. The ding of the elevator interrupted her thoughts and the two women got out and looked around. Neither knew which way to go. They stared at each other in silence before Callie sighed.

"I think we need to talk, do you want to come in?" She asked.

"I agree," Arizona nodded, Callie unlocked her door and took a deep breath as Arizona followed her in and shut the door behind her.

"take a seat." Calllie mumbled awkwardly, gesturing towards one of the armchairs that had been used in their fort. '_This is crazy_' Callie thought as she went to sit opposite Arizona, it felt like a business meeting.

"ummm," Callie thought of where to begin, "I was married."

Arizona wrinkled her brow in confusion. "I dont understand...I mean, I understand but I don't know why you're telling me this now."

Callie shuffled uncomfortably, "I...I told you that I have this issue with following my heart over my head. I... want you to understand why...then I think you'll get how...how this," she waved her hands between them, "happened."

Arizona sat back in her chair and looked directly into Callie's eyes. "okay." she said.

Callie took a deep breath before starting again. "I was married, to a man. George O'Malley. I loved George, he...he made my world stop. But...but he never really loved me. He said he did, he tried to and...and I still believe that there was a time when he _wanted _to, but he didn't. He never loved me but I married him anyway."

Arizona did not break eye contact with Callie, "that's awful." she said apologetically.

"yeah well, that was the honeymoon period," Callie laughed bitterly, "over time, we began to argue. I would say that he preferred his friends over me and he would say that I was paranoid. Eventually, all that anger just turned to resentment and the resentment turned to apathy. We had been married for around six months when I..." Callie almost choked on the memory, "I found out that he was cheating on me."

"so," Arizona sat up, "you separated?"

"nope," Callie continued, "we stayed married. I was too ashamed of getting a divorce. so I let him go on his business trips and corporate breaks, but I knew he was going to see his various lovers across the country. One weekend, he was on a "trip"," Callie used air quotes, "when I got a call saying that he was in a traffic accident. He was pronounced dead at the scene."

Callie watched Arizona digest this information, hoping that this would make sense to her.

"You...you hate yourself for not listening to your heart and...and getting a divorce. You think that the man you loved died because you wouldn't listen to your heart." Arizona slowly explained, never removing her eyes from Callie's, "you won't _let _yourself be happy."

Callie nodded, "and I suppose that's why I created this whole...conspiracy. Arizona I assumed you were straight because I can't let myself be happy and I didn't tell you I was gay because I couldn't handle more rejection. I'm sorry."

Arizona got up and went over to Callie's chair, she kneeled on the floor in front of her so that Callie was looking down directly into her magical blue irises.

"Calliope, _I'm _sorry. I was too self involved and self loathing to even consider that somebody as incredible as you could have feelings for somebody like me...you do...have feelings for me?"

Callie nodded, "I do" she whispered. Arizona stood up and pulled Callie out of her chair. She placed her hands on Callie's waist.

"you know," Arizona smiled, "a few days ago, we stood in this very spot and joked about kissing."

A wide smile appeared on Callie's face as she recalled the fond memory, "I wanted to kiss you so badly."

"Me too," Arizona sighed, "so I suppose now we're just these two adults who have feelings for one another. Even though we may not want to act on them."

"But that's not about you," Callie interjected, "it was never about you Arizona. I would've kissed you that night if I had let myself...I probably would've done more than just kiss you actually...if you wanted."

Arizona didn't say anything, instead, she pulled Callie closer and closed her eyes as she tilted her head. Her lips were so soft. Calllie put her arms around Arizona as they slowly melted into the kiss. She began to stroke the blonde's back as Arizona moved her arms around to Callies arms and neck. Arizona moaned slightly as Callie pulled her tighter, causing the pace of the kiss to gradually increase.

Callie slightly opened her mouth; she could feel Arizona's tongue softly approaching and receding like a gentle tide on the beach. She could hear her heart thumping in her ears as her pulse began to race. Arizona smelt like lavender and strawberry ice cream. Their noses grazed one another as they eventually pulled away for some air. They gently rested their foreheads together as they opened their eyes.

Callie studied the seas of blue, she wanted to get lost in those perfect, sapphire oceans. She heard Arizona's heavy breathing return to normal.

"Calliope," Arizona swallowed, "if you want to...if we want to do this...I think it's important that we do it right."

"I agree." Callie understood, rushing things now could lead to a mess, and she wanted everything from this point onwards to go perfectly. "Do you want to watch a movie?" she smiled a big, happy, toothy grin that made Arizona beam too.

Arizona licked her lips, "like you wouldn't believe."


	7. Chapter 7

So this is a muuuuuuch longer chapter than last week to keep you going.

Unfortunatly, due to exams (and a wee case of writers block) I'm going to only be updating every wednesday from now on, starting next week.

Meanwhile, I've been so grateful for your follows and reviews, so keep them coming!

I own nothing!

* * *

Chapter 7

"You won't believe this Calliope." Arizona pecked Callie on the cheek and sat down to have some breakfast. It had been a couple of days since the party but she was still beside herself that she could just walk up to Callie and kiss her.

"What is it?" Callie asked as Arizona tucked into her eggs and bacon. Callie was drinking her morning coffee in the dining room so she could eat with Arizona. She waited with a newspaper for the blonde to join her.

"I'm auditioning _for a movie _all day today." Arizona smirked.

"A _movie? _In Seattle?" Callie put down her coffee and waited for the blonde to finish her mouthful.

"Well," Arizona swallowed, "there are a few production companies in Seattle, and the guy I'm meeting today is making a feature length film for some indie festival in a few months."

"What's his name?"

"I think its like...Jason or something..." Arizona tried to remember that name as she shovelled bacon into her mouth, "Jackshun! Hish namesh jackshun."

Callie laughed, "Finish you mouthful Arizona."

Arizona swallowed again and stuck out her tongue. "Jackson, his name is Jackson Avery."

Callie stuck out her tongue and drank some more of her coffee. "So what's the part?"

"I'm not sure yet, it's a blind audition, I dont even know the project title." Arizona said nervously as she piled the majority of her breakfast into her mouth at once, at Callie's bemused look, she stated, "and the cab's gonna be here in five minutes."

Callie had a troubled expression, "so if the audition is all day, when will I next see you?"

Arizona thought for a moment, "ermm you could come and watch the show again tonight, if you wanted to."

"Sure, I'd like to actually follow the plot of this thing." Callie nodded in agreement.

Arizona looked up from shovelling mountains of eggs into her mouth "You said that you like it!"

"Arizona, I liked you...your performance was a little too distracting for me to get anything else" she blushed.

"Awww" she giggled at the confession, "meet me outside the theatre at 8."

"Why dont I pick you up from your audition and we can go together?" Callie asked.

"Only if you dont mind, Calliope." she said, checking her watch. "Oh, crap the cab!" Arizona stood up and poured an entire glass of orange juice down her throat. As she turned to leave, Arizona felt a warm hand on her arm.

"Forgetting something?" a smooth voice teased. Arizona spun around to see Callie standing directly behind her; she instantly leaned in to kiss the innkeeper, who moaned into her lips. Arizona pulled her closer, forgetting herself. Just as she was about to open her mouth, she felt Callie pull away, "you're going to be late" she teased in a sing-song voice.

Arizona sighed heavily, she was no worked up and flustered, "the things you do to me Calliope." she muttered.

Callie winked before sitting back at the table and returning to her newspaper. "Good luck!" she called as Arizona left the dining room and entered the main lobby.

"Hi Arizona!" a cheerful Meredith Grey called from the receptionists' desk.

"Hey Mer!" she waved, "how's it going?"

"Pretty good," Meredith grinned, placing a hand on her stomach, "I'm finding out the sex today."

"That's amazing!" Arizona beamed, "you'll let me know?"

"Of course." Arizona waved goodbye to Meredith and ran outside to find her cab.

She opened the car door and got inside.

* * *

Callie watched Arizona open her car door and wordlessly sit beside her and stare straight forward. The blonde's eyes were red and puffy, she had obviously been crying.

"Everything...ok?"

Arizona continued to stare out of the windshield, she didn't move, but her smile broke and tears began to stream down her face.

"Arizona oh my god are you ok?" Callie quickly leaned over and held her face, "dont cry sweetie, talk to me."

Callie turned Arizona face towards her own and wiped the tears. Arizona sat limply, "I didn't get the part."

"Really? They told you that?"

Arizona shook her head, "not outright. But they hated me Calliope, they kept groaning and rolling their eyes, I had to step outside towards the end so I wouldn't lose it."

"so...then we move onto the next one Arizona, this isn't the end of the world."

"No, Calliope, you don't understand." she turned towards her shaking her head, "I thought that it was my best audition yet, but I still won't get the part." Arizona removed Calllie's hands from her face and went to put on her seatbelt. "what do I do when my best isn't good enough?"

Callie didn't know what to say, she had asked herself that same question many times. "You...you carry on. You carry on going and you reach places you'd never even thought of reaching." she wiped some of the tears as they slid down her cheek, "you didn't get the job today, but there will be more. Life throws you shit sometimes, we've both had our fair share of it," she took Arizona's hand, "but I still live in hope that things get better," she placed a small kiss on her knuckle, "I know they do."

The actress gave her a small smile, "thank you, Calliope. I'm so lucky to have you."

"I know." Callie grinned and took hold of the steering wheel. She pulled out of the parking lot and drove towards the theatre. They sat in comfortable silence whilst Arizona fiddled with the radio. When they approached the theatre, Arizona's phone began to ring.

"It's Alex," she mumbled when she saw the caller ID. Callie parked the car and watch the actress as she put the phone to her ear. "Hello? yes...what happened? Oh my god! She can't just...ok well what are we going to do?...but what about...oh I see...ok...what did Owen say?...Really? Wow...I know...okay I'm just here know I'll see you in a second." Arizona hit the 'end call' button and took a deep breath.

"What's up?" Callie asked with concern.

Arizona looked between Callie and her phone. "Izzie left."

"she left?" Callie asked.

"I can't believe her. she is the woman who claimed that I would abandon them, but now she's gone and quit. She got the job that I almost auditioned for a week back...when you came to pick me up." she explained, "They're shuffling around the cast. Owen will play the shrink...I'm the lead Callie."

Callie felt her eyes go wide, "that's amazing Arizona!"

Arizona didn't smile, she just nodded, "yeah...it is. Ummm," she looked at her phone, "I've got to be in there right now to go over lines. Are you ok to wait around for a bit? You can hng out backstage before we start."

Arizona's distracted state made Callie concerned, "sure." she weakly smiled before they got out of the car and went into the theatre backstage door. Arizona walked Callie down a corridor and into a small dressing room.

"this is mine," Arizona frantically took off her coat and began collecting various scripts and papers from around the room, "just hang out here for a bit and I'll come and get you when we start, ok?"

"ok...Arizona I thi-"

"I can't talk now Callie," Arizona shook her head and pecked her on the cheek, "but I'll see you soon, ok?"

Callie nodded and watched the blonde run out of the room, she sat on a small sofa and took out her phone to check her facebook. She hadn't been on for days. She searched for 'Arizona Robbins' and saw 9 results. Callie scrolled down, looking at the profile pictures and personal information until she found her Arizona beaming at her.

But it wasn't an Arizona she had seen before. This Arizona had shorter, curlier hair. Callie could see by her smoother face that she was younger. '_or maybe just less stressesd'. _This Arizona stood next to a young blonde man with similar, sapphire eyes and dimpled smiles. A pang of dread ran through Callie, had she seen this man before? Obviously this was Arizona's late brother, Tim. They were standing by the statue of liberty.

'_This must've been moments before he died' _Callie thought as she tapped on the photo so she could see it in full. This Arizona looked so much younger, her eyes were lighter and her smile was wider. This was not an Arizona Callie would've fallen for she decided. Part of what drew Callie to the blonde, apart from her adorable personality and _oh god _those dimples, was the parts of her that weren't entirely whole.

Callie loved that Arizona could look at the pain of others and immediately empathise, much like she had done when she had seen Richard in her bar. She loved that Arizona understood hurt and what that did to people, she loved that Arizona understood her.

She sent Arizona a friend request and closed the app. As she placed her phone in her pocket, she felt it vibrate. Callie looked at the caller ID, "_dammit"._

"hello?"

"hola mija, ¿Cómo estás?"

Callie rolled her eyes "I'm fine daddy, how are you?"

"well I would be a lot better if my own daughter would give me a call sometimes," Carlos Torres replied, "and if she would bother to speak to me in our mother tongue."

"Glad to hear it Dad," Callie said, she loved her father, but she hated these conversations, they always ended up discussing her love life, "how's business?"

"Oh, I won't bore you with that Calliope, I just phoned to see how you were doing. I haven't heard from you in days, is there something you're not telling me?"

'_yes'_

"no"

"who is he calliope?" Callie panicked. Her father was a strict catholic and she wasnt sure how he would respond to her dating a woman.

"There isn't anyone daddy, I've just been busy with the inn." Callie hated lying to her father. The man had raised her, taught her the difference between right and wrong, took care of her when she was in trouble.

"Yes, er, about that Calliope, I was just going over your accounts today mija, you never told me that that you are in some debt."

"daddy, lots of small businesses are in some debt at the moment."

"But I thought you just took on another member of staff?"

"She's part time, and a full time employee has just left and we aren't replacing her." Callie replied. She had not thought about Erica in days and was very happy to run the bar without her.

"ok mija, I was just checking that you aren't in any trouble. I may be your accountant but I am a father first and I worry about you when you don't call."

"I know daddy," Callie smiled at her father's concern for her, "but you dont have to be. I'm fine," Callie heard a rustling outside, Arizona must be returning from the rehearsal, "I've got to go now, love you daddy."

"Te quiero, calliope."

Callie hang up her phone as Arizona opened the door.

"was someone in here?"

"oh no I was on the phone," Callie explained as she stood up, "how was rehearsal?"

Arizona sighed and collapsed onto the sofa Callie was just sitting on, "stressful, I know the dialogue and directions, but everyone else is really off their game." she looked into Callie's eyes, "i am too."

Callie kissed her worried forehead. "Arizona Robbins, you are great," she kneeled down to look her directly in the eyes, "you...are...great." she slowly repeated, making sure that the blonde heard it.

A soft smile appeared on the actresses face, "thank you Calliope."

Callie stood back up, "so you are starting soon?"

"ten minutes"

"ok, I'm going to get a seat, find me in the audience. If you need a reminder of how great you are, you know where to look," she winked.

Arizona nodded and stood to give Callie a peck on the cheek, "I'll see you soon."

"Break a leg" Callie smiled at Arizona before walking out the door.

* * *

"Break a leg everybody" Owen called as he walked into position. Arizona had not seen Owen perform before and was interested to see his wamring up technique. As Arizona practiced her heavy breathing and Alex stretched, Owen paced around in circles around his shrink's chair on the platform above them. "We're on in 5"

"hey!" Leah waved as she bounded up to Arizona, "great news about the part hey?" she smiled breathlessly.

Arizona was confused, "What do you mean? Izzie my have ruined the show!" she hissed angrily, trying not be overheard.

Leah rolled her eyes, her wide smile was starting to get on Arizona's nerves. "Silly thing, this was all for you."

Arizona walked up to the young actress, "what are you talking about?"

Leah was taken aback by Arizona's hostile attitude "Izzie was saying...well, i didn't...we didnt want you to leave us."

"So you got Izzie to sabotage my auditions?!" She furiously whispered.

"She...she wanted to leave...she was ready to...i...i...you got the lead Arizona!" Leah was panicking. "I thought you would...be grateful"

Arizona was livid. How dare the little creep meddle with her career! Just because of some stupid crush! She wanted to throw Leah against the wall like she had with Izzie, she wanted to scream and yell and hit.

But it was two minutes before show time, and, despite popular opinion, Arizona was determine not to be a quitter.

_"In...out...in...out..."_

"Leah," Arizona looked squarely in Leah's eyes, "you had no right to do this, do you understand? No. Right." she sternly explained, "Now, we are going to temporarily forget about this and go and perform. But after, we are going to discuss what you think is going on here Leah, because obviously, you are misunderstanding." she stormed away from a hurt Leah back to her position on the side of the stage, and waited for the curtain to rise.


	8. Chapter 8

Wow, crazy couple of weeks here!

My workload has literally quadrupled in the past fortnight and I'm finding myself with VERY little time to write at the moment.

So PLEASE forgive me with the lack of regular updates, I promise they will be longer chapters though! (this one is my biggest yet I believe)

Also, a massive thanks to all the attention you have been giving this little fic, I appreciate every single follow, favorite, review and pm I receive so keep them coming! ;)

also don't forget I update this fic on my tumblr (McWhoPuff) so remember to check it out!

I own nothing!

* * *

Chapter 8

Callie watched in anticipation as the curtain rose, her heart swelled with pride when Arizona entered the opening scene. She remembered these first few scenes: the lack of dialogue, the blatant physical abuse, the chemistry between the characters.

Actually, it was the chemistry between the characters that Arizona seemed to be particularly good at exploring. She reacted to the female love interest with so much passion and feeling, Callie was almost convinced that there was something going on there.

By the time it came to the most explicit part of the play, where the wife and the woman next door engage in a heated love scene, Callie was growing more and more uncomfortable with Arizona's interactions with the younger woman. She looked at the programme to find out who this chick was.

_"Leah Murphy" _Callie read the name with contempt. She watched the intimate scene between the women with a raging, disgusting pain in her gut. She did not feel like an audience member, she felt like a voyeur. During the dialogue scenes, when Arizona's character would speak of the love she felt for Leah's character, tears almost came to Callie's eyes; she knew that real Arizona could never be so open with her feelings; it made her incredibly jealous to hear Arizona saying these things about another woman.

As soon as the final applauses were made, Callie ran out of the theatre and into her car. She had wanted to go backstage and congratulate Arizona on her success in the leading role, but she just couldn't bring herself to be in that theatre any longer. In an attempt to clear her mind, she turned on the radio to full volume and sat with her eyes closed.

After some time, Callie became aware of a frantic rattling on her windshield. Arizona had come looking for her and had found her in the car.

Instead of unlocking the doors, the innkeeper got out of the car and inhaled the evening air. Without a word, she marched over ton Arizona and grabbed her by her jacket. She pulled the blonde towards her for a full on, passionate, heated kiss. Callie allowed her hands to roam all over the Arizona's body whilst Arizona moaned and wrapped her arms around her waist to pull them closer. Callie attempted to exert all her jealous and angry energy into the kiss, she wanted to be able to return to normal once she pulled away.

She wanted Arizona to make the pain stop. So Callie kept kissing, and feeling, and exploring. Their tongues continued to battle for dominance until she could not breathe.

"Calliope, Calliope," Arizona mumbled against her lips, "We need air."

Callie tilted her head forward so their lips were no longer touching but their foreheads were pressed up against one another's. She waited for her erratic pulse to return to normal before opening her eyes and stepping away. Arizona softly stroked her cheek, expressing her silent concern through her gentle caressing.

"You were amazing Arizona." Callie smiled weakly, "I'm so proud of you."

Arizona gave Callie a withered look, "are you going to talk to me Calliope?"

Callie sighed, "I couldn't really...handle...seeing you being with...her. It...Err...really affected me."

Arizona smiled, "Calliope, are you jealous?" she teased.

She shot daggers at the blonde, "this isn't funny Arizona. My feelings are not a joke."

"No," Arizona shook her head and stepped back towards Callie, "they're hot." She placed her hands on Callie's cheeks and placed a slower, softer kiss on her lips.

Callie gave a bitter laugh, "oh the things you do to me Arizona." she muttered as she stared at her shoes, making the blonde giggle.

"Callie, I understand why those scenes would've made you uncomfortable. To be honest," she smiled, "if I saw you doing...those things...I would've reacted in a similar way. But you've got to understand that this is part of my job. It's the occupational hazard of being my girlfriend I suppose."

Callie's head shot up, she looked straight into Arizona's eyes. "Girlfriend?"

Arizona's smile broadened, "yes Calliope, I would describe you as my girlfriend," she explained as she took Callie's hands in her own, "and that means that I would never, ever cheat on you, or do anything with another woman that would make you jealous. When I act, I'm not me; I'm a different woman, with different feelings and different relationships. I don't get overly attached to my characters, so you shouldn't either."

Callie slowly nodded, "Arizona, i know it isn't you up there, but i still can't deal with watching you go up and be with somebody like that. I know it's fictional and I know there's nothing going on there. I suppose it's like...like seeing photos of you with an ex only...live."

"This play...it's emotional. The actors know that we have to over compensate on the passion to make up for the lack of dialogue..." Arizona started, but when she saw that Callie's eyes would not move from the ground she changed track, "calliope, i would love for you to come and watch m perform again, it gave me so much joy to see you in the audience tonight. But if you are uncomfortable with the performances, that's ok too, you dont have to come."

Arizona's words had given Callie the confidence to look up, "No. You are my girlfriend and I want to show my support for you. Maybe I could hang out backstage or something?"

"I'd like that." Arizona beamed again as she took the hands she was holding and lead Callie back to the car, "now let's go home and make this girlfriend thing official."

"You are truly incredible Arizona Robbins."

* * *

"That...was...incredible...Calliope..." Arizona panted. The women were lying in bed side by side, their shoulders touching.

"Yeah." Callie breathed. Neither of them could talk properly, they stayed in silence as their worlds stopped spinning and their breathing became normal.

"I should shower" Arizona rolled out of bed and looked down at her girlfriend. Callie's just-fucked hair and sexy underwear made her very reluctant to leave the room.

"I could join you," she giggled suggestively. Arizona practically melted with desire but she could hear her stomach groan with hunger, she had not eaten since her rushed breakfast that morning before the audition. Apparently, Callie heard it too, "or I could order a pizza or something whilst you wash...we shall adjourn here shortly for round two."

"More like round four..." Arizona smirked as she placed a chaste kiss on Callie's warm forehead, "you're hot."

"You're hot too." Callie grinned.

Arizona shook her head as she felt Callies head with the back of her hand, "no...You're _hot _hot. You have a fever," she threw the covers off her girlfriend; she was covered with pimples that Arizona instantly recognised, "pox! Pox! You have chicken pox!"

Callie looked down at her body and jumped out of bed in shock, "oh my god!"


	9. Chapter 9

Hey y'all! Another chapter for you, you guys need to trust me okay because this fic is going in a bit of unexpected direction really soon but you just gotta feel what im feeling, you feel?

Anyways please dont hesitate to hit me up with some reviews and such, I love you guys!

I own nothing!

* * *

Arizona threw on her dressing gown, "Calliope, I suggest you put some clothes on. I'm going to call a doctor and find somebody to take care of you."

Callie sat down and pouted, "Can't you stay?"

"I haven't had chickenpox Callie, I can't be sick. I have to perform tomorrow tonight, and I probably already have it, _damn_" Arizona explained apologetically, grumbling as she threw on her clothes.

"Ok, well, thanks." Callie sadly nodded as Arizona ran out her room and down the stairs. Lexie was behind the receptionist's desk.

"Hey Arizona, did you need anything?" she looked up, seemingly unfazed by Arizona's attire.

"Callie has chickenpox," Arizona explained breathlessly, "and I haven't. Could you maybe call or a doctor?"

"Oh no!" Lexie exclaimed as she picked up the phone, "of course, I'll do that right away." she started to dial as the dining room door opened.

"What's going on?" Mark asked as he marched into the lobby, when he saw Arizona, he stopped and chuckled. "What did you do to her Blondie?" he smirked, "give me details." he added in a whisper.

Arizona rolled her eyes at Mark's inappropriateness, "Callie's got chickenpox. Lexie is calling for a doctor." she said sternly.

Concern washed over Marks face, "alright, I'm going to go up there. Blondie, go into the kitchen and open the refrigerator nearest to the dining room door. On the bottom shelf, there are some little tubs, take one and put it in the microwave for three minutes and meet me up there." he ran off up the stairs before another word could be said.

"She'll be here soon," Lexie announced as she hung up the phone, "but until then, it's important that Callie stays in bed, has plenty of fluids and does not scratch."

Arizona nodded and went into the kitchen. She quickly found the correct refrigerator and followed Mark's instructions. When the tub was in the microwave, Arizona poured out a cup of tea and found a tray. She placed the tub and tea on the tray and carefully carried it up to Callie's room.

"Is everything ok?" Arizona asked as she walked in. A fidgeting Callie was in a nightie and Mark was taping oven mitts to her wrists.

"I'm itchy!" Callie complained as she squirmed on the bed.

Arizona placed the tray on her bedside table. "Don't scratch. The doctor will be here soon but you can't scratch. I would say to have fluids but it doesn't look like..."

"I'll feed her the soup Blondie dont you worry." Mark interrupted as he cut the tape with her teeth and walked to the kitchen unit to find a spoon.

Arizona watched an agitated Callie lie back in bed and pull the covers back. "Do you need anything?" she softly asked.

Callie gave her an innocent smile and thrust her oven-mitted hands up, "take off the paws?"

"You can't scratch Calliope, you'll scar." Arizona smiled at her adorable girlfriend.

"Please Arizona!" Callie begged, "I dont care about scars! Scars are hot...they're badass...they're poetic!"

"Shut it Torres!" Mark commanded as he pulled a chair up to Callie's bedside, "you're not doing anything except lying here and drinking your soup." he sat in the chair and held a spoonful of soup to Callie's lips. She gently blew on the spoon and opened her mouth for Mark to tip the soup in.

"That's good," Callie swallowed, "thanks guys."

"Dont sweat it boss," Mark diligently replied as he held another spoonful to Callie's mouth.

Arizona stood by the door watching Mark feed Callie her soup, she had never seen Mark act so caringly before, she realised that the two of them must've closer than she had originally thought. She jumped as somebody knocked on the door; she opened it to reveal Lexie standing beside a tall, dark man in a white coat.

"This is Dr. Burke," Lexie introduced, "he's come to see Callie." Arizona nodded and opened the door wider to let them in. Burke introduced himself to Callie and began checking her over.

Arizona watched as Callie sat in bed surrounded by people. Realising that there was nothing more she could do for her girlfriend, she silently slipped out of the door and went into her room to put on some clothes. Once she was appropriately dressed, she went downstairs and headed towards the Archfield.

"You ok, Joe?" Arizona greeted the bartender as she sat on a stool.

Joe turned around and gave Arizona a friendly smile, "good as ever, how are you? Managed to sort things out with Callie?"

"Yeah, we're good," Arizona nodded, "sort of together now, I suppose that's all down to you."

"That's fantastic," Joe beamed, "I'd better get an invite to the wedding, can I get you anything?"

"Scotch on the rocks please," Arizona said with a smile, "with a twist."

Joe chuckled as he poured out the drink, "Arizona?" a voice from behind her called.

Arizona turned to see a red-eyed Leah Murphy approach her.

"Hello Leah." she nodded. Arizona did not want to talk to her, not when her girlfriend was lying ill somewhere without her. Nevertheless, the young actress tentatively took a seat beside Arizona.

"I just wanted to say...I'm sorry for...for everything. I panicked and what I did...it wasn't cool."

Arizona considered Leah's apology, all the anger from earlier that day had disappeared. Callie's concerns had taken priority over Leah's silly crush. "Leah, I need you to listen to me, and I need for you to understand what I'm about to say, ok?"

"I can do that," the young woman nodded and Arizona took a breath.

"You're sweet Leah, but you have to understand that if you have expectations about the two of us getting together, you're going to need to adjust them. I'm sorry."

Leah's face fell, "o...of course, there's no need to apologise, and it was my fault. I dont...I don't open up to people much and...And when I do I can get carried away, it's happened before." tears welled in her eyes, "And you...I've always admired you as an actress and...As a person and I...I thought you thought about me." she quickly stood up, "I went overboard and I'm sorry, it won't happen again."

Arizona watched the young woman run from the bar and turned back to Joe.

"Sheesh" he exclaimed, "that was rough."

Arizona took a long swig of her drink, "was I too harsh?"

"No," Joe shook his head, "but your timing could've been better, Alex just waltzed through the lobby with some chick on his arm and Leah took it pretty bad."

"I forgot they hooked up," she ran a hand through her hair, "that girl needs to find somebody appropriate to go for and not people that have no interest in her."

Joe nodded in agreement, "can you really blame her though? You travelling types are so alone and isolated most of the time."

Joe's words caused a feeling of dread to creep up on Arizona. She had been such an idiot.

* * *

"You're being an idiot, Torres." Mark shook his head at Callie.

The innkeeper had gotten so frustrated she had started to rub her back against the wall, "I'm sooooo itchy Mark! It hurts so baaaad! I'm in pain, to the core of my being!" she threw up her oven mitts dramatically, "Pain, I'm going crazy pain. Scary, will-this-ever-go-away pain. Do you get that?" She ran towards a bemused Mark, "D'you… D'you…D'you know what I mean when I...when I say that?" she glared at him, "Because this pain...is need to scratch an itch that I can't scratch…the pain of a thousand itches and it's making me crazy….Not funny crazy…it's bad crazy… it's dark crazy…it's make-a-suit-out-of-someone-else's-skin crazy, okay? Pain, Mark... paaaaain…"

"Imgoingtoproposetolexie" Mark blurted.

Callie raised her eyebrows, "you what?"

Mark sighed and sat down on the bed, "I love her Torres, and I want to marry her. I'm asking her... soon."

Callie sat down next to her friend. "Are you sure?"

Mark nodded slowly, "The loves i feel for her Callie, it's like nothing I've ever felt love. Its heart-stopping love, its gut wrenching love, it's never wanting to spend a single second without them love. I love her."

A slow smile spread across Callie's pox'd face, "That's amazing Mark, I'm so proud of you." she rubbed his back with her oven mitt, "my little Sloan is growing up."

"Who are you calling little?" Mark winked. Callie rolled her eyes and flopped back on the bed.

"Whenever we try to have an adult conversation, you go and ruin it Sloan." she complained sarcastically.

"What can I say? I'm the golden boy." he grinned cheesily, "so now I've got that off my chest," he climbed behind Callie and got into a spooning position, "let's deal with your issue." He started to rub Callie all over her body with his wrists.

"What are you...oh that feels good!"

"And no scars" he smiled as Callie tilted her head back in ecstasy. Mark continued to caress her until the door suddenly burst open.

"Ermm...what's going on?" Arizona asked, her mouth was wide in shock.

"Nothing, Marks just scratching an itch." Callie grinned at the blonde, who remained baffled.

"Well I can see that!"

"No, no, Blondie" Mark sighed as he continued to rub Callie's arms, "I'm helping her itch her pox without scarring them.

"Oh." Arizona walked over to the bed, "well, I can take over that Mark, thank you."

"If you say so," Mark rolled off the bed and went to the door, "feel better Torres," he waved before shutting the door behind him.

Arizona climbed onto the bed where Mark had just been and started rubbing her in a similar fashion, "You're going to get pox Arizona!" Callie warned, loving the attention nonetheless.

Arizona placed a little kiss behind Callie's ear, "so I get the pox, at least we'll have them together." Callie sensed a hint of sadness in her voice and turned to face her.

"What's wrong?" Callie asked, concerned with Arizona's pained expression.

Arizona let out a heavy sigh, "I'm not going to get a job whilst I'm here, Callie."

"So, you carry on with the play, what's the issue?"

"The issue is...we're a travelling theatre company. We are only in Seattle for a couple more weeks."

Callie stared at Arizona, shocked that this had only just dawned on the two of them. "Crap"

"Yeah," Arizona pulled Callie towards her, "crap. Also, Leah Murphy played me. She told Izzie to go after all of my auditions so that I would stay with the theatre company. She thought I would want to stay with Izzie gone and with me having the leading part."

"Why would she do all of that?"

"She likes me Callie. She wanted me to stay because she thought that we would hook up. How can I stay with people like that? She's a really talented actress, but she'd give it up to get in somebody's pants."

"Well," Callie mused, "I can see where she's coming from."

"What?!" Arizona was horrified.

"What I meant was, although I hate the girl, I can see why she would go to such lengths to keep you around," she gave the blonde a little kiss; "you _are _pretty great."

Arizona gave Callie a small kiss in the lips and returned to her spooning position. "I don't want to be apart from you Calliope." She whispered, "Come with me when we move."

"Come with you?" Callie breathed. Arizona had obviously been nervous about asking her this, they had not been dating long and already she was asking something massive from her girlfriend.

"Not for long." Arizona quickly added, "Our next city is Vancouver, but then we go to Portland. I was thinking, you'd come to Canada with me for a couple of weeks and then I can see you when I'm in Portland?"

"Arizona...you know that won't work." Callie sighed.

Tears pooled in Arizona's eyes, "I know."

"We are going to have to break up." Callie started crying too.

"I know." Arizona let tears run down her face.

Callie kissed her forehead, "no llores mi angel" she cooed, and "we can work something out."

Arizona didn't respond, she nuzzled into Callie's neck and sobbed. Callie rubbed her back, she did not to scratch anymore, and she needed to be with her girlfriend.

They stayed like that for hours, silently crying and comforting one another at the same time until they fell asleep, dreaming of the little time they had left together.


	10. Chapter 10

I am so deeply sorry about the lack of on time update, to tell you the truth I completely lost track of the days of the week, my bad.

Anyways, thanks for all the follow, faves and reviews, keep them coming!

So with this, the mess we ended up last week gets a little development, and I also take the opportunity to explore Arizona's and Callie's friendships a little.

Here is your chapter, I won nothing!

* * *

Arizona was running out of time to get a job.

She had quickly contracted the chickenpox and was bedridden for a week, which meant that she spent her days with Callie. Doctor Burke had told them they should be feeling better fairly soon, but would the couple only had a few more days together as healthy people before Arizona went to Canada.

But they didn't think about the oncoming doom, Arizona was very happy to cuddle in bed with Callie, watching bad movies and trying to eat chicken soup with oven mitts taped around their hands. After that first night of crying to sleep, they had this unspoken agreement that they would not mention the fact that they may never see one another again.

On the third day, Alex and the rest of the cast visited her, things were awkward around Leah and the other cast members had caught on. Ever since Izzie's betrayal, Owen had been trying to find a replacement shrink. The actors were tense at the thought of others leaving, another abandonment could ruin everything.

Arizona knew this too well, she needed to leave the company if her relationship with Callie could stand a chance but leaving them now would brand her as a quitter forever. Even Bailey had told her to rethink things.

"Arizona, screwing up ties with more potentially influential people in the acting world would not go well for you right now. Who knows where the likes of Owen Hunt or Alex Karev will be in five years time, but you don't want this to be the reason you don't land a project with them in years to come." She explained to the blonde actress over the phone whilst Callie was napping.

"I understand that Miranda, but what if this project is a sinking ship anyway? Wouldn't I be wise to get out whilst I still can?"

Bailey thought about this for a moment before answering, "In my experience, it takes a lot for something like this to fail if you do find something before you are set to leave, just make sure that you give them as much notice as possible, meaning, I think its time to stop searching Arizona."

Arizona sighed, she could see her life in Seattle slipping out of her hands. "What about the movie? The indie film?"

"I haven't heard from the director, but I can give him a call now if you'd like?"

Arizona thanked Bailey and hung up the phone. She turned to look at her girlfriend.

The innkeeper was curled into a ball, asleep in bed."Calliope," she sang, gently shaking the innkeeper, "you want some soup?"

Callie moaned as she stirred away, "I'm feeling better Arizona," she stretched her arms out to yawn, revealing the fading pox on her forearms, "see, almost gone. I'll be running around in no time."

Arizona gave her a dimpled smiled as she sat on the bed "that's fantastic Calliope, running where exactly?."

"Canada." she said sadly, "I want to go to Canada with you Arizona, I want to make this work."

Arizona shook her head sadly, "you know it wouldn't. You have an inn to run and long distance doesn't work."

Callie opened her mouth to protest but Arizona shoved a spoonful of chicken soup onto her tongue before she could speak, as Callie tilted back her head to swallow, Arizona's phone began to ring.

"Hello?" Arizona answered.

"Arizona, it's Miranda. I've just spoken to MR Avery." Bailey informed her.

"What's up?" Arizona asked, ready to hear the news of her rejection. She knew that the movie audition did not go well at all and that this was her final chance nonetheless. She grasped Callie's hand for reassurance.

"They loved you," Bailey sang, "said that they were just about to call. They want you to start immediately."

"WHAT?!" Arizona called out, alarming Callie slightly, "You mean I got the movie?"

"You got the movie?" Callie beamed beside her.

"Yes" Bailey confirmed. Arizona kissed Callie on the forehead

This is amazing!" she the actress was on the verge of crying with happiness.

"Yes well, I advise you tell Owen straight away, and that you agree to continue performances for him until they leave for Vancouver." Bailey told the giddy blonde. Arizona thanked her manager and hung up the phone.

"So you're staying in Seattle?" Callie had to hear confirmation before she could properly digest the news.

"I'm staying." Arizona nodded.

* * *

"You're leaving?" Alex yelled at Arizona. Callie had almost fully recovered from her pox and was now able to walk around the inn without fear of causing an outbreak, she was currently standing in the entrance to the kitchen, watching Arizona tell her best friend about her new job.

"I got a _movie _Alex," she smiled, "this is the first real opportunity I've gotten in years."

"And what about us?!" the young man flailed his arms around dramatically, "you're leaving us high and dry. After all Owen has done for you. Two leads gone in as many weeks."

Callie could see the guilt creeping across Arizona's face, "I will always be grateful to Owen for picking me up when I was off my feet." She calmly explained, "And I will always be grateful to you for being there for me throughout."

Alex kicked a spare chair beside him, he was clearly wrestling with his emotions. He looked around the room and then back at his friend. "What am I going to do?" he mumbled sadly, "what if we have to stop? what if...what if I never find somebody like you again?" he was on the brink of tears.

Arizona gently placed her fingers on his arms, which were crossed over his chest defensively, "I'm going to be here for you no matter what Alex. If anything happens, anything at all, you call me, okay?"

Alex took a deep breath and nodded. "I'll miss you Robbins," he smiled sadly, "shame we never did it."

Arizona rolled her eyes and gently slapped Alex's shoulder, "pig" she smiled.

"prude" he teased, Callie couldn't help but chuckle at their playfulness, "so have you told Hunt?"

"Tonight" Arizona nodded determinedly, "I wanted you to know though, before I told the others."

"I appreciate that." Alex grinned gratefully. The actors stood and embraced one another. Arizona said something and Alex nodded before he turned to leave. As he walked towards the exit, he saw Callie standing in the doorway and went over to her.

"Hi Alex." Callie nodded.

"listen, "he said sternly, "Arizona likes you, like, a lot likes you. You know that."

"I do." she smiled, "I like her a lot too."

"Well, just dont hurt her, ok? I know I'll soon be miles away or whatever but she's still all that I have. She's the person I talk to, you get that?"

Callie fondly thought of all the times she and Mark had been there for one another, "I do, and I'd me telling me the exact same thing if I were in your shoes Alex. I won't hurt her."

Alex glanced around at Arizona, who was engrossed with her phone, "good" he nodded again and swiftly left the dining room.

Callie went into the kitchen to find Mark icing some cupcakes. "ooh those look good" she poked out her finger to take some frosting.

Mark quickly sapped her hand away "Na-ah-ah pox lady. No sock people in my kitchen, now get out."

Callie pouted, "I could fire you, you know?" she teased.

Mark looked up at her and smirked, "I'd like to see you try, you're not getting rid of me that easy Torres."

Callie grinned, "I'm glad I have you Mark, I dont know how I'd cope if you left?"

The chef put down his icing bag and walked over to her, "where's all this coming from?" he asked.

""I don't know," Callie sighed, "It's just, you're my person and...Arizona's losing her person and...she's not going to have a person...you know?"

"Oddly enough, I do." Mark nodded sadly, "but like I said, I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you, except for out of my kitchen." He went back over to his cupcakes. Arizona will find a new person." he said as he continued to ice the cakes.

"I hope she does." Callie nodded as she left the kitchen in the opposite direction and entered the bar. As it was the middle of the day, it was completely empty. Callie stroked the countertop's surface. It had been too long since she had been in her castle.

"Everything ok?" a voice asked, making Callie jump in surprise.

"Meredith," Callie sighed when she saw her receptionists sitting in one of the booths, "you scared me. What are you doing here?"

Meredith stared at the table, her eyes were red, "we lost the baby." she muttered.

Callie took a couple of beers a and sat down opposite Meredith, who took the bottle and drank a large amount of it.

"How's Derek?" Callie asked, they had been trying for a baby for months and Derek had been overjoyed when Meredith had tested positive.

Meredith shrugged, "I don't know, he's probably driving somewhere. That's what he likes to do, instead of talking, he drives out to the middle of nowhere and I dont see him for hours." she bitterly explained as she drank.

"I lost a baby once." Callie almost mumbled.

"When?" Meredith looked up from her bottle.

"I was married... years ago. My husband died in an accident he...he didn't know that I was carrying his baby." Callie explained, "I thought...I thought...I dont know. I thought maybe this baby would make things better. We were in a bad place and I thought that a baby would...well it didn't matter in the end. I lost the baby soon after he died...er stress-induced miscarriage."

"I'm so sorry Callie." Meredith looked back at her bottle.

"It sucks, you know, it's a loss and you've got to grieve. Take some time off, grieve, talk to Derek, and let me know how you guys are coping, okay?"

"thanks," Meredith gave Callie a small smile, "how did...what helped you?"

"I distracted myself," Callie sighed, "I decided to take the money from my late husband's insurance policy and buy this place." Callie stroked the wall next to her. "it probably wasn't the healthiest thing to do but...but I suppose the inn became my baby. It's something that I am proud to have created and I'll never leave it. Now you..." she stood, "should go home, and you have been drinking. So I will call you a cab ok?"

Meredith nodded and finished her beer, "you would've been a good mother Callie."

"You _will_ be a great mother Meredith." Callie told her employee as she took out her phone.


End file.
